


The Green Arrow

by Mrz1289



Series: The Green Arrow Trilogy [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-28 09:19:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 118,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2727044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrz1289/pseuds/Mrz1289
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His name is Oliver Queen. When he returned to Starling City, he brought more of the island with him than he thought possible. Two years after Slade Wilson waged a war against Oliver and his city, things couldn't be more different for him. The day after Slade's defeat, Felicity Smoak, Oliver's rock, fled town. But a darkness looms and Oliver will need all the help he can get.</p><p>AU after Season 2 with alterations to Slade's final attack on Starling City</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years after Slade Wilson's rampage on Starling City......

"Two years." Oliver muttered softly to himself.

Two years since everything changed. If Oliver had thought that The Undertaking would have changed things for him, he couldn't have imagined what would have happened just 18 months later.

Slade Wilson, the friend that he had killed back on that hellhole of an island, had returned. Not only had he returned but he had returned with a blood lust.

One that only the friends and family of Oliver Queen could satisfy.

For weeks, Oliver warred with his former friend, always seemingly a step behind. For hours at a time, he bunkered down in the basement of Verdant, searching for any possible clue to where he could find Slade or what he was really planning.

Those weeks were the darkest in his life, eclipsing even those on the island as he watched his closest friend slip slowly into madness.

Finally, Slade made his move, going after the one that he determined would be the one the one person in his life he would miss most.

Surprisingly to Oliver, he didn't go after Laurel or Thea. He didn't go after Sara or Dig. He didn't touch his mother, either.

No, his target was Felicity Smoak.

To this day, the knowledge that Slade knew him that well and had watched him that closely frightened him. If Slade had seen how much Felicity meant to him, not Arrow but Oliver, who else knew that information?

While Oliver had managed to recover Felicity physically unharmed, nothing was ever the same between them.

She had left for Gotham the next day.

Every day, Oliver woke up, praying that she had called him in the night, letting him know that she was on her way back. Instead, he hadn't spoken to her in nearly ten months and when they had spoken, he hadn't been able to say what he was really wanted to say.

"I love you." Oliver muttered to no one in particular. "I'm sorry."

Instead, they traded small talk at an event that he had attended in Gotham, never even coming close to talking about what had happened that night with Slade Wilson.

"Oliver?"

The voice belonged to Sara Lance, officially code-named The Canary. Since their encounter with Nyssa al Ghul, Sara had remained in Starling City, ever by his side. Now, patrols through The Glades were done in tandem, both to cover more ground and to ensure safety.

When Felicity had left, Sara had done her best to fill her place, learning as much about computers as she could. She also tried to be his emotional replacement for Felicity, the one who he could talk to. Unfortunately, Sara lacked Felicity's real world charm because Sara was just as broken as Oliver was. There was no escape in a conversation with Sara, just depression.

She had seen that nothing was going to happen between the two of them and had backed off. Now, they kept things strictly professional between the two of them, even at work, where Sara had been named the Head of Internal Security at the Tech Branch of Queen Consolidated. Another way of keeping Sara close, much like he had with Felicity, although he did notice that he didn't keep Sara anywhere near as close.

"I'm here." Oliver growled, his voice cracking from misuse.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?" Sara asked as she came to stand next to them.

"I prefer the dark." Oliver replied before grabbing the bar of the salmon ladder in front of him and starting his rigorous workout.

"It's been two years, O." Sara replied softly. "Let it go."

"What part of it?" Oliver roared as he hung from the bar, a lifeline that suspended him twenty feet off the floor.

"All of it. Her, Slade, the whole damn thing."

"I'll remember that the next time we talk about Nanda Parbat."

"We don't talk about that." Sara snapped, although her voice barely broke a whisper.

"Exactly."

"Well, I'm glad to see that you two are in a cheery mood."

Roy Harper now known as The Arsenal and the third part of their super team. After deciding that a bow and arrow wasn't his thing, Roy decided on knife training. Now, decked completely in red, he worked the downtown area of the city when he could. Taking classes at Starling Tech University by day made it difficult to be a vigilante by night.

"You know what day it is." Sara replied, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Of course, I do. I just figured we wouldn't have a repeat of last year."

"We won't." Oliver said simply as he started making his way down the ladder.

"Sure." Roy muttered skeptically.

"Last year" had been a complete blow-up between Sara and Oliver when Sara tried to get Oliver to talk about why he had been so grumpy in the recent days. When it was discovered that everyone else in the lair had already forgotten the day, Oliver had exploded, yelling about everything from Felicity to Slade to the mission that had gone bad.

Needless to say, Oliver was quite aware that everyone had remembered to give him his space so far this year. All except for one man.

"Good luck getting him to cheer up. He wasn't particularly cheery before Slade came to town either."

John Diggle, his closest (living) friend, just couldn't seem to get away from bothering Oliver about Slade. Personally, Oliver thought it was because of the amount of grief Dig got at home. Only six months after Slade's attack on Oliver, Lyla and Dig had gotten remarried. Only a few months later, Andrew, Diggle child #1, had been born. Now, Dig made only rare appearances inside the lair, frequently working only as a driver in the streets or maintaining a vigil from his home.

"Thanks for the pep talk, Dig." Oliver said gruffly as he fell to the floor. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem, man."

This had been their dynamic for two years now. While all of them did their best to keep things loose and informal, none of them could honestly say that their relationship felt like anything more than that of business associates. Ever since Felicity's departure from the team, the group had been fighting to try and keep the light atmosphere that she had managed to keep while working with the rest of them.

Unfortunately, that wasn't any of their personality. At some point, all four of them had been broken. While Diggle and Roy had done a good job of putting the pieces back together, the other two hadn't succeeded in the least bit. Laurel wouldn't sit in the same room with Sara and after Oliver had sworn off his mother, he had been left with only Thea as someone that he could even consider family.

Tommy was dead. Laurel hated him because he chose to associate with her sister. Moira had betrayed his family's trust too many times.

The crime rate in Starling City may have been down (and it was) but things hadn't been this bad for Oliver Queen since he had been on the island.

"What's on the agenda for this evening?" Roy asked softly, obviously not wanting to incur Oliver Queen's wrath.

Turning around, Oliver marched from the salmon ladder to the computer, pressing the ENTER key which started the presentation he had prepared prior to starting his dark workout. Instantly, a collection of maps, pictures and files popped up onto the screen, highlighting their target for the evening.

"We've finally found enough to move forward against Councilman Bolt." Oliver started, his voice radiating his business-like attitude. "Just as a refresher, Councilman Thomas Bolt is certainly on his way up to becoming Mayor within the next year. Unfortunately for Mr. Bolt, he is unaware that we know about his more illegal activities. Specifically, he's been facilitating the purchase of military grade firearms by various gangs around The Glades. He's been doing this in order to support gang violence as a way to gain an "anti-organized crime" platform for his Mayoral campaign."

"Class act there." Roy muttered.

"Not at all." Oliver replied humorlessly. "We know that a shipment of weapons from Cambodia landed here in Starling City. It's been marked as shipped to ZeusCorps. The only issues being..."

"There's no such thing as ZeusCorps." Sara said, filling in the end of Oliver's sentence.

"Exactly." Oliver replied. "It's a tough trace but we're certain that this is a shell paid for by Thomas Bolt as a cover to bring illegal weapons into the country. Now, Bolt doesn't have the capital to bring them in so he has to be the cover, the man in charge of bringing them in but not paying for them."

"So what's the plan?" Diggle asked softly.

"The plan for tonight is two fold. At any of the previous shipments, Bolt has never been present. However, his right hand man, a former hitman named Vincent Winnfield, has been there every time. Winnfield is known publicly as Bolt's bodyman. If we can connect Winnfield to the weapons, it will look publicly like Bolt is involved, even if we can't get him arrested."

"You said the plan is two fold." Sara replied. "I'm only hearing one."

"The second phase is a direct meet with Bolt. I'll handle that." Oliver answered firmly.

"What's the purpose of that?" Diggle asked curiously.

"To hang him out of a window until he confesses to doing it."

"Nice."

"Councilman, who's paying for those weapons?" Oliver asked calmly from behind his voice disruptor.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Bolt replied shortly.

"That's a shame."

Quickly, Oliver reached up and released the rope that had held Councilman Thomas Bolt from his 61st story window. Breaking into the Councilman's office had been all too easy and before Bolt even knew what was happening, he had a rope wrapped around his leg and was literally thrown from his window.

Judging from the smell that Oliver got, the abrupt stop at the end of the fall had caused the man to urinate himself.

It was a frequent occurrence when The Green Arrow was involved.

The scream that Bolt let out was blood-curdling as he freefell down the side of the building. Finally, Oliver pressed the button that would slow Bolt down just enough so that the rope would be able to jerk when he reached his stopping point, something that was always particularly terrifying.

Once Bolt reached the bottom, Oliver jumped up and pulled the rope back up the pulley until Bolt hung upside-down in front of him once again.

"I'll ask again, Mr. Bolt, who pays for the weapons?"

"I don't know!" Bolt shouted, crying profusely. "The payment doesn't come through me. I just provide the shipping containers and the cover."

"For what?"

"Huh?"

"What do you get in return?"

"Campaign contributions." Bolt cried out. "The beneficiary is funding almost my entire Mayoral campaign."

"For what reason?" Oliver barked, getting directly in front of Bolt's terrified face.

"I don't know."

"Fine." Oliver replied firmly before reaching out and punching Bolt in the face, knocking him unconscious. Instantly, Oliver removed Bolt from the line and threw him onto the floor of his office. Once that was done, Oliver reached into the storage space on his hip and pulled out the photos of Winnfield and Bolt together and threw them on top of the knocked out politician.

"Arrow to Arsenal: come in." Oliver said firmly into his radio.

"Arsenal here. What's the deal?"

"No information here. Nothing we can really use anyway. Give those camera crews their story and then get the hell out of there." Oliver replied before addressing the other person on the line. "Dig, call Detective Lance. Tell him what's going on and that's he going to need to get an arresting unit over to Bolt's office."

"Will do."

"Good. Arrow: Out."

With that conversation, Oliver quickly tied Bolt to his desk before racing to the roof. Once he was there, he was able to zipline to another building three blocks away, getting himself out of harm's way.

"Arrow to Canary: Come in."

"Canary to Arrow: What is it?" Sara replied, sounding quite bothered about Oliver's call.

"Catch you at a bad time?"

"Just got done taking down three potential rapists or muggers. Not sure whether they were more interested in her or her purse. Either way, there was a patrol running through the area as I got done."

"So you had to bolt."

"Exactly."

"Well that's probably a good idea." Oliver mused. "Anyway, finish your patrol and then back to base. We're done for the night."

Back at the ArrowCave, the four members of Team Arrow sat quietly, watching the news as Councilman Thomas Bolt was arrested for assisting in the transportation of illegal weapons. Knowing that this was simply a symptom of some larger problem made things worse than he should feel, knowing that they had effectively blocked any further weapons from coming in via the docks for quite some time.

However, the bigger problem was that there was still a mysterious benefactor out there, one with enough cash to pay for a Mayoral candidate while simultaneously shipping massive quantities of untraceable weapons into the city.

"Smile, Oliver." Sara said simply as she sat next to him. "We won."

"A battle, maybe." Oliver replied, a cold tone to his voice. "But there's something not right about this. I looked into Bolt's eyes and he told me the truth. Somehow, whoever is actually bringing the weapons into the city is doing it completely anonymously."

"That's a fight for another day." Diggle countered. "Today, we did what we can."

"Sure." Oliver replied, obviously not convinced. "Go home, guys. We'll start again tomorrow night."

With a few deep sighs, the other made to stand. After gathering their things, Roy and Diggle left but Sara stood, watching as Oliver continued to watch the news and pour over other files.

"Are you coming?"

"No." was Oliver's simple reply.

"Fine." Sara whispered softly before placing a small kiss on his left temple. "Don't kill yourself down here."

"Turn the lights off on your way out." Oliver whispered back.

Seeing that there was no getting through to the young CEO, Sara turned in place and marched out of the room, following his instructions and shutting the lights off before climbing the stairs into the nightclub above.

Finally, darkness ruled his world again. Since Slade, his world had felt like nothing but darkness. Darkness at the realization of how alone he was, at how close to death Felicity had come and how he had finally pushed her over the edge, pushed her away.

With that, darkness became his only friend.

For who knows how long, Oliver sat in the darkness, watching the news and waiting for the sun to rise. The CEO of Queen Consolidated rarely slept and when he did, he had destroying nightmares of the night that Slade Wilson destroyed everything he had worked so hard to build in his return from the island.

A report on the news suggested that The Green Arrow had again been responsible for bringing down the corrupt councilman, much like he had with Alderman Blood just two years earlier. Either way, the foolish Police Commissioner once again pledged to bring down The Green Arrow or The Vigilante, as the Commissioner still preferred to call him.

Suddenly, just as Oliver nearly nodded off to sleep, the lights of the ArrowCave came to life. Whether it was Dig, Roy or Sara, Oliver had no interest in turning around. He had intentionally stayed behind after the others had left, relishing the darkness and isolation of an empty ArrowCave. Whoever it was could just deal with his poor company.

"I see you've been living in the dark too."

That voice. That voice. Quickly, Oliver calmed himself down, knowing that he was either hallucinating or dreaming. She was gone. He had pushed her away.

"Polite as ever, I see."

This time, there was no question. Somehow, someway, she was here. Slowly, Oliver rotated in her chair, his favorite spot in the Cave. As he turned, she came into sight. In an instant, Oliver was transported back to two months and one day ago, the last time he had seen her here.

Standing in the center of the ArrowCave was Felicity Smoak, the person that among all others Oliver Queen trusted. The one he had pushed away. She looked almost exactly as she had when she had left. Her hair had a slight curl to it just as it hit her shoulders, her glasses framed the serious and pensive look on her face and the dress she wore matched her heels perfectly, as they always had.

Felicity Smoak had come home.

"We need to talk."


	2. I: Prometheus

Suddenly, just as Oliver nearly nodded off to sleep, the lights of the ArrowCave came to life. Whether it was Dig, Roy or Sara, Oliver had no interest in turning around. He had intentionally stayed behind after the others had left, relishing the darkness and isolation of an empty ArrowCave. Whoever it was could just deal with his poor company.

"I see you've been living in the dark too."

That voice. That voice. Quickly, Oliver calmed himself down, knowing that he was either hallucinating or dreaming. She was gone. He had pushed her away.

"Polite as ever, I see."

This time, there was no question. Somehow, someway, she was here. Slowly, Oliver rotated in her chair, his favorite spot in the Cave. As he turned, she came into sight. In an instant, Oliver was transported back to two months and one day ago, the last time he had seen her here.

Standing in the center of the ArrowCave was Felicity Smoak, the person that among all others Oliver Queen trusted. The one he had pushed away. She looked almost exactly as she had when she had left. Her hair had a slight curl to it just as it hit her shoulders, her glasses framed the serious and pensive look on her face and the dress she wore matched her heels perfectly, as they always had.

Felicity Smoak had come home.

"We need to talk."

"What?" Oliver asked, shock apparent in his voice.

"Polite and a bit deaf." Felicity said with a smirk. "Although you never were the best listener. I swear to God, there were times that I would just sit at this computer and talk and you wouldn't listen to one word. Not that I was really surprised, I always was the best rambler, which I seem to be doing right now. OK, I'm going to stop. I stopped. Good. Still stopping."

Yup, definitely Felicity.

"What are you doing here?"

"Deaf." Felicity replied as she sat down next to him, rolling her eyes. "I said we need to talk."

"About what?" Oliver answered, suddenly very nervous that they were about to have the conversation that he had been dying to have for two years.

"Bruce Wayne."

Instantly, Oliver felt the energy and anticipation that he had just had leave his body twice as quickly as it had entered.

"What about Wayne?" Oliver replied, doing his best to keep from sounding bitter. "He's not really any of my concern."

"He should be." Felicity said before opening her bag and handing him a file. The front simply said "Wayne, Bruce" with TOP SECRET in giant red letters underneath it.

"Where did you get this?"

"I may have been sneaking around the A.R.G.U.S. databases." Felicity said with a smirk. "I printed all of this off my computer. The file itself isn't really top secret. Well, the information inside it is but I bought the folder at OfficeMax for two dollars. I just thought it looked cooler."

"Of course you did. What's in here?"

"What you can't read?"

"You would like me to sit here and read this whole while you wait? Because I can do that." Oliver said with a grin that he hadn't felt in years. "Or, you could just tell me what's so important."

"Fine." Felicity replied, again rolling her eyes at him. "There's definitely something up with Bruce Wayne. You know the story: parents are killed in front of him when he's ten, he leaves to go to college and doesn't come back for nearly a decade."

"Yeah, he got back what like 18 months ago?"

"Yes. Almost instantly, I noticed something strange."

"And that is?"

"He frequently just disappears." Felicity said as she opened the file. "Large quantities of money from his accounts just disappear as do various special projects for WayneTech. Then, there are numerous other projects at Wayne Tower that he alone can access."

"That's strange. Wayne is known for his business acumen even less than I am."

"Exactly!" Felicity shouted in excitement.

This was the Felicity that he missed. The one who got so excited when she was able to crack the code or figure out the problem. When she was like this, there was no one else in the world he would rather be around.

"So, isn't it a bit strange that the most aloof owner of a major corporation in the history of the world has three dozen special projects that not even his CEO have access?"

"Wait, Fox can't access them either?"

"Nope." Felicity replied. "Only Wayne's log-in information will get him what he needs."

"And how did you get this information?"

"Well, being the leading researcher at WayneTech into all things computers can get me access to pretty much whatever I want."

"Fair enough." Oliver replied. "So where does this information lead?"

"That is the one thing I can't quite place. Felicity admitted. "It could be a whole host of things and with some of the things I've seen, I'm not willing to rule any of them out."

"Good point. So what would you like me to do?"

"Actually, I'm not quite sure." Felicity admitted with an embarrassed grin. "I just finished compiling this information, told Bruce that I was leaving to visit some Starling City friends for a week and then got on the WayneTech private jet that brought me here."

Bruce. She was on first name basis with the most vile man in the country, as far as Oliver was concerned. He was a foolish boor of a man who gave money to stupid things and seemed to care nothing about the lives of those around him. Parents death or not, Wayne had no excuse for his behavior. However, maybe there was something hidden under there if Felicity had caught on to something.

"It's not like you to act without a plan." Oliver mused. "Wait a minute, a week? For this conversation?"

Felicity blushed softly when he brought this up.

"I wasn't sure that I was actually going to be able to approach you. I've already been in town for four days."

Four days. She had been in town for four days and he had no idea. He had stopped checking her cell phone tracer, which he had begged her to leave on when she left, six months earlier and hadn't thought to be looking for it again. He quickly made a mental note to go back to checking it.

"Why could you not approach me?" Oliver asked softly. "Felicity, you should know that you can always talk to me."

"Can I, Oliver?" Felicity asked, a harsh tone in her voice that Oliver had rarely heard. "I haven't heard from you in almost a year."

"I thought that's the way you wanted it. After...after the incident-"

"You mean after Slade kidnapped me?"

This wasn't the Felicity he remembered. There was a rage and an anger in her voice that Oliver hadn't ever heard. Not ever.

"Yes, Felicity." he admitted softly. "After that, you took that job at WayneTech the next day."

"I did." Felicity replied, before suddenly shifting in her seat. "Anyway, I wasn't sure how you would react, so I waited. But now that I'm here are you going to help me look into Wayne?"

She had just very pointedly changed the subject. As sad as it made Oliver, maybe it was for the better. The fact that there hadn't been any major deaths in his life since Tommy seemed to be too much of a miracle. Maybe he was doomed to love a woman who hated him as a sacrifice for the survival of the rest of his family.

"I don't hate you, by the way."

Something that had developed in the weeks before her departure had just jumped back at them. Her uncanny ability to know exactly what was going on inside his head. It was like she had some sort of device that was reading his thoughts.

Actually, he wouldn't put it passed her.

Ignoring her last comment, Oliver pressed on, his heart breaking as he did.

"I'll help." Oliver said with a forced smirk. "I'll let the board know that I'm going to make a visit to our Gotham branch. But in order to do this, I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"I need you to disappear for a couple of days." Oliver replied. "I need a good cover for why I'm going to Gotham. Gotham QC doesn't have much in the way of important projects going on. So, I need to use you as my cover."

"Cover?" Felicity asked in confusion.

"Visiting you will be my cover. I'll say that I'm going to Gotham QC but as long as no one knows you're in town, I can have some leak to the rest of the board that my real intention is to visit you and fix our relationship. It's no secret that I haven't spoken to my hand-picked executive assistant in almost a year."

"Ah. So you're going to fix our relationship?" Felicity asked with an evil grin. "Is that why you're going?"

"We'll see." Oliver replied, doing his best to maintain his cover and knowing that he was probably failing.

"Sure." Felicity said as she stood up. "I kept my apartment in town. I'll be there for a couple days and then leave on Friday for Gotham ahead of you."

"Good. Can you meet me at the airport?"

"I'll do my best." Felicity replied as she turned towards the door. Watching her go was like torture. Here she was, back in the ArrowCave where she belonged and just like that she was leaving again. Before Oliver had any idea what was going on, he was speaking.

"Felicity."

The word slipped out from between his lips like a secret. A poorly kept secret, that is. Slowly, she turned around, a look of apprehension on her face. She knew what Oliver wanted to say. She had to. She had always known what he was about to say.

"It's good to see you." Oliver whispered, disappointment ringing in his own voice.

"You too." Felicity replied, a tear noticeably falling down her face. Then, just like that, she was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

For nearly an hour, Oliver stared at the steps up to Verdant, praying that she would return. That she was jump into his arms and stay forever. Instead, all Oliver could see was the lights of Verdant going dim and the sounds of the heavy bass waning away as the time turned from late evening to early morning. Eventually and quite reluntantly, Oliver Queen stood and walked out of the ArrowCave, never quite feeling as depressed as he had right then.

She had been there.

Then, she was gone.

Oliver slept restlessly before finally waking up and dressing quickly. As Oliver straightened his tie, all he could think of was last night. It had almost been like seeing a ghost, like the night when Slade had made his reappearance. While he had known that Felicity had been alive, the fact that she had appeared and disappeared made it seem like she almost hadn't been there at all.

A voicemail from her reminding him not to forget the file she had given him, and that he did actually need to read it before he came to Gotham, proved that it had not been a dream.

As Dig pulled up to Queen Tower, the newly renamed headquarters of Queen Consolidated, Oliver couldn't help but think about how lonely this trip had been for the last two years. Even if they didn't pick Felicity up on the way in to work, she was almost always in some form of communication with him, whether it was QC business or his "other" job. Now, he sat in silence as he rode towards the job that he secretly resented more than anything.

He hated the feeling of being shoehorned into working for his family's company. While he had grown into a fairly competent CEO, Oliver had always desired to give the position away once the company was in a better place. For whatever reason, he couldn't do it. Even though he had never repaired his relationship with his mother, he felt it was his responsibility to his father, a continuation of the promise he made to his father to right his wrongs.

Exiting his black Cadillac, Oliver made his way into the building where his personal team of three met him. Rather than replacing Felicity with one person, he had chosen three. One, Samuel Todd, acted as his personal scheduler for both work and non-business events. Another, Emily Ramsey, acted as a buffer between him and the rest of the Board of Directors. The last one, a middle-aged man named Anderson Shepard, was his personal business analyst, someone personally hired to ignore the opinions of every other person in the world and provide an unbiased opinion.

The second he walked in the front door, all three began speaking at once. Rarely did Oliver answer any of their requests until later today and this day was no exception. Walking silently to the door of his own private elevator, he listened while they all talked. He knew that they would all approach him later after the board meeting so he didn't bother answering.

All he did was simply enter his elevator and let the door close behind them. Once Diggle hit the button for the top floor, he smirked softly behind Oliver.

"What's on your mind?" Oliver asked softly.

"Why did you even bother hiring them?"

"They serve a purpose." Oliver answered simply. "Their purpose just doesn't matter until after the board meeting is over."

"Fine." was Diggle's simple reply.

They finished the rest of the ride silently before stepping out into the already crowded board room. In the last two years, Oliver had established control over the company in several ways. First, Oliver had purchased stocks in several small starter companies that had made him an immense amount of money. That money was then transferred into the purchase of larger quantities of QC stock.

Within a few months of Slade Wilson's appearance in Starling, Oliver had 62% control of QC.

Secondly, with his control ensured, Oliver fired all of the Board of Directors and hired another group entirely. They were all being paid nearly as much as some CEOs would be paid. This was done to ensure that they would give their true opinions on matters. If they didn't, they would be fired. One person that Oliver left at QC was Isabel Rochev, who he had named Chairman of the Board.

Unlike other corporations, the Board had no actual moving power with Oliver's consent. Therefore, there was no real damage that Isabel could do and Oliver could keep a close eye on her, as much as he had come to detest the woman for several reasons. First, she was constantly a thorn in his side and finally, and more important, she represented a significant block between him and Felicity, a visual reminder of how blind he had been.

Either way, she was there and the board meeting was started.

"Morning everyone." Isabel started. "As usual, we will start with our CEO. Oliver?"

Oliver smirked as he heard her disdain for him creep into her voice.

"Certainly." Oliver replied, doing his best playboy impersonation. "I only really have one thing to report. This Friday, I will be leaving to visit our Gotham City branch. I'll spend the weekend meeting with some friends and taking in the sights. Then, on Monday morning, I intend to tour the facilities there and visit with management."

"Why Gotham City, Mr. Queen?" one of the board members asked. "There's almost nothing of value there. In fact, the Board has considered closing it down on numerous occasions."

"Exactly why I'm going." Oliver shot back. "Gotham City is a resource we should be using. Instead, the facilities there are rotting, the management is getting stale and there seems to be no progress in any form there. I intend to interview staff and look into the facilities there to see why."

"Isn't that something that someone a little less "high profile" should do?" Isabel asked harshly.

"Maybe, but that's exactly why I'm going. I intend to use my "high profile," as you would put it, to get the opinions of the employees there to see what could be done to make Gotham City more productive."

For a few moments, the room was silent. Then, a voice rang out from the far end of the table next to Isabel.

"No offense to you, Mr. Queen-"

"I'm sure." Oliver murmured softly.

"-but isn't this something that Ms. Rochev would be more suited for? If this were a simple walk-through, one where we just needed a face, you would be perfect. But this is actually supposed to be a business trip, then I would insist that Isabel accompany you?"

For a second, Oliver sat there silent. He was impressed by the honesty this man showed, as condescending as it may have been. Paying them good money had been worth it. Finally, Oliver leaned forward.

"Don't be worried." Oliver said dismissively. "I intend to record everything. My man, Mr. Diggle, will be following me with a camera or voice recorder. You will get a copy of everything that I see and say and everything that is said to me."

"But, Mr Queen-"

"That's that." Oliver cut the board member off firmly. "I do know that I am not the best at this kind of thing. However, I would like to think that over the past three years in charge of this company, my business acumen has grown. I would like this opportunity to stretch my legs and see how I do."

"So this has nothing to do with Felicity Smoak?"

The mention of Felicity caused Oliver to stop breathing. Looking down to the other end of the table, he saw Isabel, the obvious originator of the question, looking at him ravenously, just waiting for him to make a wrong step. Finally, taking one deep breath, Oliver settled himself and answered.

"I will be visiting Ms. Smoak during my time in Gotham City." Oliver said simply.

"Why would you have to do that?" Isabel asked victoriously. "She flew into Starling four days ago."

"Excuse me?"

"A private plane owned by WayneTech landed at Starling's private airport four days ago with one passenger: Felicity Smoak." Isabel answered firmly. "She's been in town nearly four days and isn't leaving for another two."

"How do you even know that?" Oliver asked, not even bothering to deny the accusation.

"When a plane owned by one of our largest rivals arrives in town, I take notice." Isabel replied violently. "Especially when it carries a former QC employee."

Well, this certainly complicated things. Thinking as quickly as he could, Oliver countered.

"Felicity and I are in a series of meetings that could result in her returning to QC." Oliver replied softly, hoping the lie would convince them/her. "My personal feelings for her aside, Felicity is a brilliant mind and a person that belongs at QC. I have talked with her about positions in both Starling and Gotham City."

"Hence the reason for the visit to Gotham?" one of the close Board members asked.

"In part." Oliver admitted. "I will still be doing what I said I would be doing while Felicity is at WayneTech. After the fact, I will be giving her a tour of facilities in Gotham."

"You're going to expose our company's secrets to an employee of a rival?"

"No, Ms. Rochev. Any even moderately restricted areas will not be part of the tour. I am simply doing my best to convince an incredibly talented friend to return to the QC family."

"Or just return to Starling."

"Excuse me?"

This was what it was like on a daily basis with Isabel Rochev. She was constantly doing everything she could do get under his skin. Thankfully, years of her company had Oliver's used to her tactics and he rarely rose the bait.

Unfortunately, Felicity was a sore subject, especially recently. Thankfully for him, Isabel did not press the subject any further. Instead, she opted to continue the meeting.

"Anything else, Mr. Queen?"

"Nothing." Oliver said through gritted teeth. "Nothing at all."

Later that evening, Team Arrow convened in the ArrowCave, ready to work for the night. Their target for the evening: a man who called himself Prometheus. He wore a suit of armor modeled after the Greek gods. Going with the Prometheus theme, he had set of wrist launchers that fired a concentrated pulse of plasma waves. The plasma reached temperatures of over 1200 degrees Fahrenheit and he had been using it to attack police cruisers.

Any attempts by Oliver and Sara to come up with any background information on the man who had come up short. He never spoke during his attacks and he never did anything other than attack cops. There seemed to no pattern, rhyme or reason to his attacks other than that they always involved cops.

"So basically we're stuck." Roy mumbled.

"Basically." Diggle agreed.

"We're not stuck." Oliver growled. "We're just missing something."

"Well, if we're missing something, I don't know what it is." Sara replied softly. "We've looked into everything."

"Did you look into the source of those plasma launchers?"

Now this was unexpected. That voice belonged to the former member of Team Arrow, Felicity Smoak. To the other three, there was a look of shock on their faces. To Oliver, all he could do was smile. Even though he knew she probably wasn't back forever, he could still relish in her being back for the fight one more time.

"Felicity!" Sara shouted as she jumped from her seat to attack their former nerdy aide.

Quickly, Felicity and Oliver explained what had happened the night before and the reason for her visit. Once that was out of their way, work on Prometheus resumed.

"You said something about the plasma launchers?" Oliver said, staring at Felicity a little more than she should have.

"Yes." Felicity said, embarrassed at the attention she was receiving. Suddenly, she jumped forward and got to work on the computer. Within seconds, she flipped around in her seat, a smirk on her face. "These are advanced plasma generators. Normally, plasma generators are held under lock and key. Unfortunately, some were stolen from a Kord transport vehicle six months ago. These are a prototype model, designed to generate the same amount of energy with less size. That's how he was able to strap them to his wrist."

"Do they use any external power source?" Sara asked.

"No, that's the other relatively amazing part."

"Relatively?"

"It runs on phantom power. For some of the power it uses, it recirculates some of the rest of the power back into it."

"That's incredible." Sara remarked. "How come no one else has come up with this kind of technology?

"Well, WayneTech developed similar technology two years ago before decided it was too dangerous. I always knew Kord was a little crazy."

"He's not crazy." Oliver replied. "But with QC, LexTech and WayneTech dominating the market, he has to do what he can. Developing experimental tech is one way to put himself on top."

"Either way, technology like this shouldn't be something we consider lightly." Felicity shot back.

"I'm not saying we should." Oliver answered before moving on. "Either way, it's from Kord. How was it stolen?"

Again, Felicity revolved in her chair and attacked her computer. In seconds, she started talking while still working.

"It was on transport from the Kord Industries back to its normal secure location at a warehouse outside of town. Once it broke city limits, another vehicle, a large one something similar to a cement truck, blasted it in the side. The hit knocked it on its side. With seconds, a crew blew the lock off the back and pulled the plasma generators from the back. As they did that, another vehicle, unmarked blue van, pulled up. Then, as they all jumped into the van, the ringleader, a man wearing what looks like a spartan helmet shot the other three, including both drivers, before driving off."

"No sign of the vehicle after the fact?"

"Oh yeah." Felicity said before showing Oliver her screen. "They found it at the bottom of the Starling Bay."

"Great." Diggle said before wandering towards Oliver and Felicity. "So we have a man, multiple murders, with a Spartan helmet-"

"So he's probably a little nuts." Felicity added.

"Yes, probably." Diggle replied with a grin before continuing. "So, we have a crazy Spartan man with a set of plasma generators and a custom-made battle armor that is probably built specifically to protect him from getting shot with an arrow."

"I hate it when the criminals come prepared." Oliver muttered before turning to suit up. "How do we find him?"

"Well, there's good news there." Felicity answered, turning away as Oliver stripped down. "The battle armor. It is definitely custom-made but not homemade. Instead, it was pieced together from several sources. In his more recent appearances, he wears an updated version of that Spartan helmet."

"And I assume that's our in?" Diggle asked.

"It is. The rest of it is pretty standard stuff or is modified enough that we couldn't trace it. But the helmet is very obviously a Spartan-style replica that has been modified with Kord tech. The company that makes these helmets is known as Leonidas Enterprises. They specialize in creating period recreations of Greek military attire, including but not limited to-"

"Spartan helmets." Roy finished.

"Exactly." Felicity said. "The helmet is one of their more expensive models. The specialized version, a model based on the sacrificial King Leonidas, costs almost ten thousand dollars. They used period metals and they are individually hand-crafted with a date of creation, the name of the creating artist and the name of the recipient."

"How does any of that help us?" Oliver asked, fully suited and ready to go.

"After filtering through various shipping databases, I've found that only one of those models was shipped to Starling City in the last two years."

"Where? Who?"

"A Homer Pandora, home on the corner of 5th and Glass."

"Homer Pandora?" Oliver said with a smirk.

"What about it?" Diggle asked.

"Homer wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey, of which Prometheus is an important player. Pandora is also another important part of The Iliad, the first woman to come to Earth as part of the rage that Prometheus caused when he gave fire to the humans."

"Greek tragedy references?"

"We're on our way."

Twenty minutes later, the four vigilantes arrived at their destination: a large warehouse on the edge of the Glades. Standing on the roof overlooking the building, Oliver spoke to the other three.

"Diggle, stay here and be our eyes and ears."

"Got it." Diggle replied before opening his bag of gear to begin set up.

"Roy, you're delayed response." Oliver ordered next. When it appeared that Roy was about to protest, Oliver spoke again. "Let Sara and I try and take him down first. You know that once you get in there, the odds of this guy leaving in a body bag dramatically increase."

"Not always my fault."

"Never said it was." Oliver answered. "Sara and I will go in first and try and take him down. Once you hear our entrance, Roy, give us two minutes. If you don't hear me call you off, enter. Only exception is if you hear me talking to Prometheus himself."

"What then?"

"Wait for my signal. The go word will be tragedy."

"Got it."

"Alright, everyone, move!"

Everyone instantly jumped into action with Oliver and Sara ziplining their way down right next to the building. Once Oliver checked that everyone was in position, he turned his communicator on, linking him back to the Foundry where Felicity was waiting.

"Felicity, any information you can tell me about this place?"

"No. Any information has been removed from public databases and it's apparently not an important enough building to be on private ones."

"Going in blind, lovely." Sara murmured shortly.

"You ready?"

Sara's only answer was a short nod. Seeing that, Oliver kicked the side door to the warehouse in, racing inside. Once they were in, Oliver realized that all the windows had been painted over and there wasn't a single light on in the building. The extreme darkness made it nearly impossible to see anything and only seconds after they walked in the door, Sara bumped into a table, causing the contents of the table to slid ever so slightly.

"Felicity, is there any way to turn the lights on in here?" Oliver barked into the mic.

"No. The building has been removed from everything: power, water, gas. It's like it doesn't exist anymore."

"Well, I think that's what he's going for." Oliver said shortly. "Sara, did you bring those night vision goggles?"

"Sure did." Sara replied. Out of the corner of his eye, Oliver could barely make out Sara reaching in her pocket and pulling out the goggles. Once Sara had them on, she stepped passed Oliver to take point.

"Here's how this works," Sara ordered softly. "I give you a direction, you shoot."

"Got it." Oliver replied with a smirk before falling in line.

Even with the goggles movement for the two of them was slow. From what Oliver could see, the entire warehouse was one large room with hundreds of tables, each with some sort of chemistry set up on them.

"What are on the tables?" Oliver whispered.

"Not sure. They all have the same set-up but without wasting time, I can't stop to see what they are and I can't identify them with the goggles on."

"Fine. Keep moving."

Slowly, they made their way through the open room. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they looked, they found nothing, just the same chemistry set up on tables.

Suddenly, all of the lights in the building slowly began to come on. One by one, rows of lights flickered to life, allowing Oliver and Sara to see the truly terrifying sight in front of them.

"Oh holy shit." Oliver whispered softly.

As the lights came on, Oliver and Sara could see that each of tables did contain a "chemistry set" of sorts. Unfortunately, the chemistry sets were filled with one very identifiable liquid: nitroglycerin.

"Do you like what I've done with the place?"

Slowly, Oliver and Sara turned around to see Prometheus, their mysterious enemy, standing before them, adorned in his usual cape and body armor. With the helmet and body armor on, there wasn't a single inch of human flesh to be seen. In fact, if someone had told Oliver that the thing in front of them was actually some kind of robot, Oliver would have been hard-pressed to disbelieve them."

Quickly switching on his voice distorter, Oliver spoke.

"Prometheus, what the hell do you think you're doing here?"

When he spoke, he spoke with an incredibly pompous tone, as if trying to convince someone that he was portraying the Greek god that he believed himself to be.

"I'm am simply bring chaos and disorder to a world that believes itself to be in control."

"So you're nothing more than some punk?" Sara barked back. "You might as well have painted the walls in here."

"A punk? That's really what you think of me?" Prometheus replied tauntingly. "I am a god. A higher form of intelligence. The rest of humanity will realize, once I have destroyed the pathetic excuse for law and order that they have created, that I am the only power of authority on this pitiful world."

"You really believe that you are some sort of powerful being, don't you?" Oliver asked firmly. "When I put an arrow through that suit of yours, you'll realize just how wrong you were."

"I would like to see you try. As I'm sure you've noticed, each of these tables is rigged with a bomb."

"Bombs? So that's what you call these contraptions? If you are truly some almighty god, why do you need something as mundane as nitroglycerin?"

"Oliver?"

Felicity's voice rang into his ear.

"Mundane? Far from it. True, I could truly flex my muscle and prove to the world what a god I am. However, what better to destroy the morale of these pathetic lifeforms than to beat them at their own game, destroy them with their own tools."

"Oliver, if you can hear me, you need to get out of there. I've finally be able to determine why he picked that building in particular. It's got a gas main hub directly underneath it. I'm sure that he's managed to access that. If he has and that building goes up in smoke, the flames will spread into the gas mains and very quickly, every house connected to gas in downtown Starling runs the risk of getting blown sky-high."

"So what's the plan? Blow the building up with all of us inside?"

Suddenly, Prometheus flexed his wrists and the sound of plasma generators firing up rang through the air.

"I tire of you, Green Arrow." Prometheus answered, ignoring Oliver's question entirely. "I believe that your use is at an end."

In a flash, Prometheus raised his right arm, firing a blast of plasma energy directly at Oliver. As quickly as he could move, Oliver dove out of the way before reaching into his quiver. Unfortunately, Oliver now faced a dilemma of sorts. Oliver's original plan would have been to use explosive arrows. However, with the nitro present, that wasn't really an option. Plus, most of Oliver's other trick arrows would affect Prometheus, due to the battle armor he wore. Even getting up close and personal with him by striking him with his bow would lack any real effect as long as he wore his helmet and armor.

Suddenly, inspiration struck. Reaching back into his quiver, Oliver grabbed a new experimental arrow. This particular model would act exactly as a taser round, digging into the skin and firing electricity into them, disarming them. However, Oliver wasn't sure whether the prongs would penetrate Prometheus' armor.

Only one way to find out.

Drawing his bow, Oliver dove out from behind the table he was hiding behind and fired. The shot was true and buried itself directly into the center of Prometheus' mask. Instantly, electricity from the on-board battery fired into Prometheus' head.

As expected, this did not take him out. But it did do one thing: it forced him to remove his helmet. Surprisingly, Prometheus looked to be an older man, probably nearing his fifties with all white hair and a scar that ran the entire right side of his head over his eye. He had a gentle stubble on his firm jaw and a fire in his eyes that Oliver rarely saw.

Now, that Prometheus had his mask off, it was time to play ball. Working counter to Sara, the pair of them avoided numerous plasma blasts to step closer to the madman. With each blast, another table was knocked off its axis, causing another small explosion. Thus far, the building itself hadn't caught on fire, although Oliver expected it was only a matter of time.

Once she was in rage, Sara stepped forward and laid a destructive shot to the back of Prometheus' knee with her staff, causing a slight tremble in his stance.

That small opening was all Oliver needed. Seeing his enemy's balance was off, Oliver launched himself at the Greek god-wannabe, smashing him repeatedly in the head with the broad side of his bow. Eventually, Oliver broke the older man's arm defense and crushed him. One final blow to the head from Sara's staff knocked the villain unconscious.

"Not bad." Oliver said softly to Sara with a smile.

"Same to you."

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the building. Rotating in place, Oliver turned to see the far end of the building completely in flames, preventing their escape. Looking up, Oliver saw that all the catwalks that may have led to upper windows in the past had been removed.

"Felicity, we need an exit."

"The door you came in is out?"

"It's kind of on fire right now." Sara said shortly.

"Great. Well, before you get an exit, you need to shut of the gas mains in the basement. The stairs should be at the safer end of the building. Also, fire should be there in five."

"We may not have that long." Oliver growled as he picked up Prometheus' unconscious body and raced towards the basement stairs. Nearly jumping down the entire length of stairs, Oliver found himself at a set of levers and rotating dials.

"Does this seem familiar?" Felicity mumbled into the comm.

"The first time we met Tockman."

"First time?"

"Long story." Oliver replied before jumping forward and starting to turn off all of the valves. It was slow work as some of them had gotten stuck open and those required two people. Thankfully, Oliver had Sara with him and they were able to finish just as Oliver felt a massive explosion ring from over their head. Looking back up the stairs, all Oliver could see was a wall of fire racing towards him.

Without thinking, Oliver grabbed Sara and dove to the floor, doing his best to shield her from the blast with his body. As Oliver hit the floor underneath the stone stairs, he could felt the heat sear his back and within seconds, a growl of extreme pain came roaring from his lips.

"Gaaaaaah!" Oliver screaming in pain.

"Oliver!?" Felicity shouted into his ear.

"Oliver!?" he heard Sara whisper next to him.

The last thing he remembered before slipping into unconsciousness was Sara's concerned face leaning over his as he slipped away.

As Oliver woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was no longer in an abandoned warehouse. The second thing he noticed was the pain.

"Grrrr." Oliver growled as he attempted to pick himself up off the mattress he was laying on. To say that he failed was an extreme understatement. He barely managed to lift himself off the mat before collapsing in pain and exhaustion.

Looking around, he suddenly noticed that he was in the first floor bedroom at Queen Mansion, a place he hadn't lived in just over two years. He also noticed Sara, Diggle and, to his relief, Felicity seated in the room around him.

It was Diggle who spoke first.

"Take it easy, partner." Diggle said through a grim smile.

"How bad?"

"Third degree on parts, second on the rest of your back. You'll be out of commission for a couple weeks."

"What's the story?"

"We went with kitchen fire gone bad." Sara said softly. "Unfortunately, that means we had to torch your penthouse."

"Worth it." Oliver mumbled. "How long was I out?"

"Just two days while the meds kicked in and some basic first aid was applied. You'll have no lasting issues, other than a scar."

"Those I think I can deal with." Oliver said with a grin.

Suddenly, Felicity stood and made her way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked urgently.

"My plane is scheduled to leave in an hour or so." Felicity said sadly. "I don't want to keep the pilot waiting."

For a second, Oliver thought about letting her poor excuse go. Then, he changed his mind.

"Could you two excuse us for a second?"

With a glance at each other, Sara and Diggle made their way by Felicity and out of the room. Once he was sure they were gone, Oliver fought to prop himself up, barely succeeding before speaking.

"Where are you going?"

"Home, Oliver." Felicity replied simply. "Back to Gotham, where I belong."

"You belong here."

"I can't be here."

"Why not?" Oliver begged softly.

"This is why not." Felicity answered, pointing to Oliver and his injured state.

"Injuries happen in my line of work, Felicity. I get over them and I get back to work."

For a second, Felicity appeared ready to fire back with some snappy retort. Instead, she came and sat at the chair where Diggle had placed himself, the one directly next to his bed. Grabbing his hand, she clasped it between her own, the two of her barely engulfing his.

"It's not the injuries that bother me." Felicity said, a single tear in her eye. "It's why they happen that bother me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you got this wound protecting Sara."

"Felicity, you know-"

"Oliver Queen, I got over being jealous with Sara a long time ago." Felicity said, a rough edge to her voice. "It's not the Sara part of that sentence that bothers me."

"Then, wha-oh."

The protecting part. The instinct that Oliver had discovered the moment Ivo had pulled that gun on Sara back on the island. Without a thought, he had thrown himself in front of her, willing to give his life for her.

Like he had been for Felicity.

"Do you remember when the last time I saw you like this was?" Felicity asked softly.

"No."

"Well, you wouldn't remember." Felicity replied. "Because you were recovering from just having come out of a coma. The coma that Deathstroke put you in when you came after me. He kidnapped you because he knew it would get to you and despite every warning that I gave you when he let you talk to me, you still came after him. You came knowing that it was probably a death sentence! Why!?"

"Because it meant saving you and that's all that mattered." Oliver answered honestly.

Tears were now freely flowing from Felicity's eyes. Whether they were tears of sadness or anger or some combination of both, Oliver couldn't tell. Either way, he knew that he was the cause and he did not like that.

"I couldn't do that anymore, Oliver." Felicity admitted. "I sat in that hospital for two days until you came out of that coma. Two days to sit and watch you play chicken with death, all because of me. All because I couldn't keep Wilson from taking me."

"This wasn't your fault, Felicity. It was mine." Oliver shot back.

"And that's exactly why I can't do this anymore." Felicity said as she stood up, placing a light kiss on his cheek as she did. "I can't be the reason for your pain. I care too much about you for that. So, if the price I have to pay is to stay away, then that's what I'll do."

Quickly, Felicity collected her things and marched to the door. Opening the door swiftly, she stepped towards the exit before stopping and turning back to Oliver.

"I think we know where we stand, Oliver." Felicity whispered, tears impacting her ability to speak now. "I loved you almost from the moment you walked into my office with that busted laptop. Whenever you figured it out, I think that you love me too even if you've never said it."

Slowly, Oliver nodded his confirmation, a sadness crushing his heart as he watched her sob in his doorway.

"I'm sorry, Oliver, but I can't be the reason that you get hurt anymore. You should have died when you took that beating that Slade gave you. Instead, you came back and I think it's unlikely that you'll get a second miracle because the first ones are hard enough to come by."

Stopping for a moment to collect herself, it was all Oliver could do to prevent himself from forcing his injured body to jump across the room and put his arms around her. Instead, he sat still while she sobbed to herself.

Finally collecting herself, she finished her thought.

"That day, the day you came after Slade, was the worst day of my life. You came, unarmed like he asked, and stood there while he beat you to death. If Sara hadn't come-"

"He would have killed me and you would have survived." Oliver finished her sentence. "It would have been worth it."

"It would have been a miserable existence, knowing that you died a painful and horrible death so that I can survive." Felicity shot back, some of her normal energy returning. "Instead, I know that we are both alive and that I'm not the one causing you pain."

"You not being here causes me pain." Oliver said simply.

"Then that's something I'm going to have to live with." Felicity said before picking up her things again. "Protect Sara and Thea and Diggle and Roy all you want, they can take it."

With that, Felicity turned and marched out of the room. As she did, Oliver felt the blackness in his heart return. Without Felicity there, a shade went over his life, clouding every single happy moment with gloom.

This time, Oliver was pretty sure that Felicity Smoak, the best person he had ever met, had left.

Forever.


	3. II: Wayne

Eight days after Oliver's disastrous run-in with Prometheus, he landed with Diggle at a private airfield just outside of Gotham City. As Oliver flew into the city, still mildly hopped up on some of the drugs he was taking from the burns, all he could think of was Felicity. Oliver feared that after their last conversation, she wouldn't see him at all while he was in Gotham. Not only would that make him look foolish in front of the Board when he returned and told them he hadn't been able to see her, but it would hurt him more that he was in town and she would choose not to see him.

Thankfully, that thought process was thrown away the moment he stepped off the plane and saw Felicity standing there waiting for him. Slowly making his way down the stairs of his small private jet, he limped his way over to Felicity, fire shooting into his veins with each movement.

"Oliver." she said simply.

"I was worried you wouldn't come." Oliver admitted.

"We still have business, Ollie."

Ollie? She had never called him that. In fact, there had been numerous conversations about how she hated that nickname because it reminded her of the stupid, arrogant playboy he had been before his time on the island. The usage of that nickname could not have been a slip-up. Instead, Oliver noticed the several WayneTech employees behind her. It dawned on Oliver that she was using the nickname as a way to show familiarity, an act designed to impress those that she worked with.

"That we do." Oliver replied with a smile. "What time is my meeting with Bruce?"

"In just a little over an hour." Felicity said as she turned and marched towards her car. "We'll be meeting with Mr. Wayne, CEO Rupert Stickley and CFO Lucius Fox."

"Why such an audience? I thought that Bruce and I were just going to talk about potential joint operations."

"Well, unfortunately Mr. Wayne has been unable to secure support from the Board to replace Mr. Stickley as CEO, although you didn't hear that from me." Felicity said as she stepped into the car with Oliver stiffly following her in. "So, Mr. Wayne is unable to discuss these potential joint operations, as you say, without also including Mr. Stickley and Mr. Fox."

"I see." Oliver said simply before noticing that Diggle had stepped in as the driver of their vehicle. "What are you doing?"

"Ask her." Diggle said shortly, eyeing Felicity

"Felicity?"

"I asked my normal driver to ride with one of the other vehicles. Fed him some story about wanting things to be like old times for a bit. I'm not 100% sure he bought it but he may just be dumb enough to."

"OK." Oliver replied before diving into business. "So what am I trying to get from Wayne in this meeting?"

"You'll be in the room with him for a couple hours. He's going to come at you over the top. He'll appear drunk in the middle of the day and repeatedly go up to the bar in his office for a drink. He's going to ask a lot of dumb questions and he's going to give you a ridiculous number of confused looks, all of which wouldn't be strange if..."

"If what?" Oliver questioned, not letting her off the hook.

"If I didn't have so much practice watching someone try and act like they don't know what's going on." Felicity said softly, looking Oliver directly in the eye. "Oliver, I spent years watching you trick every single person in Starling that you're an idiot despite being one of the smartest people I know and that's quite the compliment considering I went to MIT. It could very well be that Wayne is really just that big of an idiot but he just seems to try to hard to make it seem like he is."

"So if he's faking it, the question is why?" Diggle said from the front.

"Exactly." Felicity said quickly, barely breathing before continuing. "He's notoriously difficult to reach any time after he leaves the building, misses appointments and other events frequently and generally pisses off anyone he meets, although that may just be because he's one of the wealthiest men in the country and they're jealous. Or it could be because he's been listed one of the most beautiful men in the country for the past two years."

"As have I." Oliver muttered softly.

"Oh not everything is about you." Felicity shot back playfully. "But seriously does that sound like anyone you know?"

"It sounds like me."

"Exactly."

Almost an hour later, Oliver and company pulled into the executive lot at Wayne Tower, home of WayneTech. After Felicity waived her security pass and vouched for the presence of Oliver Queen and his driver, the three of them walked into the lobby and straight to the express elevator in almost the exact fashion that Oliver would have at QC but without the assistants chasing him the whole way.

After one of the fastest elevator trips Oliver could remember, the three of them exited onto the 114th floor. Wayne Tower, recently added to, was the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, an outright sign of the good fortunes of Bruce Wayne and WayneTech. In typical grandiose fashion, the entire floor acted as the offices of Rupert Stickley, Lucius Fox and Bruce Wayne.

Today, as he had gotten the meeting with Oliver, they would be working out of the office of Bruce Wayne. When they walked in, Oliver was shocked. Even though Oliver knew he lived the life of the privileged, this office put every office at QC to shame. Considering Wayne was one of the wealthiest men in the world, it wasn't shocking but it was still remarkable to see just how elegant his office was.

Already waiting for them in the room were their guests, minus the one that Bruce really wished to talk to. Stepping forward, Felicity went to work.

"Mr. Stickley, Mr. Fox, this is my old friend, Oliver Queen."

"Mr. Queen." Stickley said shortly, a rather displeased look on his face, as he shook Oliver's hand.

"Oliver, good to have you come all the way from the opposite coast to visit us." Lucius greeted him warmly.

"It's good to be here." Oliver replied with a grin. "I'm certainly excited at the opportunity to throw some ideas around with a company such as yours."

"Well, actually, it's my company."

Ah, their guest: late as expected. Turning around, Oliver was greeted with the sight of the man himself: Bruce Wayne. Like Oliver, Bruce Wayne had one been suspected dead. Having returned to Gotham three years earlier, Wayne had been reluctant to return to his parents' company, instead choosing to make his living by appearing in the tabloids. To this day, no one knew where exactly Wayne had gone during his decade long sojourn overseas and despite the many requests for interviews, Wayne never addressed the issue publicly.

"Oliver, good to have you here in Gotham." Wayne said with a giant smile on his face before extending his hand. "Welcome."

"Thanks, Bruce." Oliver replied, clasping onto Wayne's hand for a firm handshake.

It was in this moment that Oliver realized that Felicity was definitely on to something. Firstly, Wayne had an insane kind of grip. Most of the handshakes that Oliver gave were by people who could barely get their hands around Oliver's and even if they did, their grip was pathetic. But even those with strong grip couldn't compare to the strength Oliver felt in this man's hand, save Slade Wilson.

The second thing that Oliver noticed was the roughness of the skin on Wayne's hand. When Oliver socialized with the other men in his social class, typically he dealt with pampered brats with hands smoother than polished marble while Oliver's hands resembled the consistency of sandpaper. Wayne's hands were also rough, possibly even tougher than his own.

Breaking apart, Oliver allowed Wayne to step away before he seated himself in the chair next to Felicity as Diggle made his place at the door. Without sitting, Wayne made his way to the bar where he busied himself making a drink while Stickley and Fox started talking. Focusing exclusively on Wayne, Oliver watched as he made his drink.

Having been a career partyer before the boat "accident," Oliver could spot a good bottle of whiskey from a mile away. Unfortunately for Wayne, the stuff he was drinking wasn't actually whiskey. Instead, it looked more like water with food coloring in it. So, the alcoholic owner of WayneTech didn't appear to actually be drinking.

Felicity had been right. There certainly was something strange about Bruce Wayne.

For nearly three hours, the group assembled discussed several different potential projects. During the whole ordeal, the only productive comments that Wayne seemed to make occurred entirely on accident with the best being a comment about a project that had been discussed almost an hour earlier. He had somehow forgotten that they had moved on to two other conversations before then. Amazingly, his comment made sense to the conversation for a second before everyone realized that he was just that far behind the conversation.

And through it all, Felicity still had a better running knowledge of QC's resources and operations than he did. Finally, the business was done and Stickley and Fox took off, leaving Felicity and Oliver with the enigmatic billionaire.

"So, Oliver, it is okay that I call you Oliver?"

"You've been calling me that for three hours, Bruce." Oliver replied, the act beginning to wear thin.

"Oh well then I suppose it's good that I asked for permission then." Wayne shot back, that same goofy grin on his face. "So, Oliver, what was the island like?"

Suddenly, a chill blew through the room.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Ollie. The famous party boy Oliver Queen lost at sea for five years, comes home and does exactly zero interviews on the subject? All he does is open a night club and then disappear for five months after his city was nearly destroyed by his mother."

"Is there a question in there, Bruce?" Oliver said, doing his best to keep a calm demeanor at the obvious change in mood.

"Not really. Nothing other than the original one."

"You seriously want to know what the island was like?"

"Of course!" Bruce said, leaning forward towards him. "Like I said, party boy gets lost an island for five years. How do you survive that?"

During the course of their more private conversation, as brief as it has been, Oliver had already seen a change in Bruce Wayne that he had not imagined possible when Felicity had contacted him. Felicity had always been a little paranoid so Oliver had done this partially out of an interest of being with her again.

The other half of him knew that when Felicity was paranoid, there was almost always a very good reason to be paranoid and that this definitely needed checking out. But the last two questions that Bruce had asked led Oliver to believe that something was very, very different about Bruce Wayne.

"Why don't you ask what you're really asking, Wayne?" Oliver growled, leaving no doubt that he knew about the man's act.

For a brief second, Wayne seemed to stall, that big, stupid grin on his face. Then, in almost a grotesque fashion, the smile broke, turning into a foul grimace.

"I'm asking you, Oliver Queen, how you learned to shoot a bow so well when you were on that island by yourself?"

"I knew it!"

If things hadn't been so tense in the room, Oliver might have laughed. Instead, all he could do was shift in his seat to stare at Felicity, who stood in front of her chair, pointing at Wayne accusingly.

"Excuse me?" Wayne asked, doing his best to retreat back into his billionaire persona and actually failing miserably.

"I knew you were him."

"Him?"

"You're the Batman." Felicity whispered.

"And you, Oliver Queen, are the Green Arrow." Bruce said confidently as he sat back in his chair.

For once, Oliver felt very exposed. Wayne was apparently something called The Bat-man. More importantly, he knew that he was The Arrow.

"Batman?" Oliver asked, during to Felicity.

Taking a deep breath, Felicity shifted into full-on nerd mode.

"About six months ago, dirty cops started showing up tied up all over Gotham with evidence of their "extra activities" tied to them. For nearly four months, no one had any idea who was doing it. Then, about eight weeks ago, someone got a tip that there was this really big battle going on at Axis Chemical between these organized crime figures and some mystery man dressed up in battle armor."

"Battle armor?" Oliver asked curiously.

"Black battle armor with a cape and cowl. Scared three gangsters completely speechless, which is remarkable considering how cocky those guys get sometime. Either way, cops show up and they confirm that there is a man dressed in black battle armor with a cowl and cape just destroying all of the gangsters. Anyway, once the cops got a hold of the gangsters, one of them coined the name 'Batman,' which I think is a strange choice but that's just how things roll sometimes."

"So, Batman?"

"Batman." Felicity answered softly before turning back to Wayne. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne. I mean, I'm not really that sorry but you are my boss so I feel like I should be sorry but he was my boss first and I'm still not really sure whether or not you're a good guy or whether you are planning on killing us."

Finally, Felicity took a breath.

"That was strange." Wayne muttered softly.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"She's never done that before."

"Really?"

For some reason, the thought that Wayne had never previously experienced her ramblings despite having worked for Wayne for nearly eighteen months gave Oliver a good feeling.

"Anyway, so that's how I knew you were the Batman."

"It's fine, Felicity." Wayne said, adopting a very relaxed personality that didn't seem to match with any of the attitudes he had previously had.

"No it's not." Oliver spoke softly. "I can tell. You don't spend four years tricking the whole world into believing that you're an idiot with being able to see the signs yourself. Firstly, you feel betrayed that Felicity figured it out. Secondly, you are now worried that someone else knows."

For a moment, Oliver wasn't sure if Bruce was going to answer at all. Then, his relaxed attitude changed back closer to that grimace, a look of such intensity Oliver wondered how it was possible.

"Of course I feel betrayed, Queen." Wayne barked out. "I had assumed, apparently incorrectly, that Felicity had left Starling just after her abduction because of a rift with you. Hence the reason I hired her. I knew that I would need someone like her and with her out of the Starling City market, she was fair game."

"Fair game?" Felicity whispered softly.

"Absolutely." Wayne growled menacingly. "This city needs to change and I'm the man to do it. So, whether she knew it or not, she was helping me. Fox knows about my little side project and was funneling ideas for me into her department. She would have it built and I would use it."

Oliver looked over at Felicity cautiously. The look of horror on her face was evident but beneath that, a look that only someone that her as well as he did would understand. That look was embarrassment. For Felicity, being the smartest person in the room when compared to everyone else combined was her way of defending herself. Seeing that she had been played was a very tough pill for her to take and she didn't appear to be taking it that well.

"Eventually, I would have invited her to join my crusade but I'm glad I didn't. I can't have someone like her around. Someone who would help someone else before they would help me. I especially couldn't have someone around me who would defend a murderer like you."

Oliver moved to leave, tired of listening to this blowhard continue his sermon, when he heard a crack, almost equivalent to a bullwhip, as Felicity slapped Wayne across the face. Staring at her, Oliver couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had seen her in many states: angry, sad, worried, nervous and embarrassed. But in all their years together, Oliver had never seen rage.

"How dare you call him that!? Oliver Queen may be a lot of things, some of them not great. But he is not a murderer! And you talk like you're any better! There are no reports of The Batman killing yet but I'm sure they're coming!"

Oliver couldn't have moved if he tried. Thankfully, Bruce Wayne was practicing every bit of self-restraint he had. Staring down at his employee, Oliver could almost see some kind of hatred towards the blonde computer genius.

"I. Do. Not. Kill! Period." Wayne barked, each word its own personal statement. "The Batman does not kill. Ever. On the other hand, The Vigilante, The Hood, whatever the hell you want to call him, has killed hundreds in Starling City."

"For good reasons! These are people that you can't leave on the street!"

"THERE ARE NO GOOD REASONS!"

This time, Oliver could move, racing in between the two of them before something bad happened. Unfortunately, this put him within inches of an irate Bruce Wayne. While he had no idea just how good Wayne was as a fighter, Oliver could imagine that disappearing for ten years could make you pretty good.

"Felicity, get out." Oliver stated firmly, not breaking eye contact with this dark knight in front of him.

"Ol-"

"Felicity, we will talk later."

"Talk all you want." Bruce roared softly. "Felicity Smoak, you are relieved of your position here at WayneTech. You have one hour to clear out your office and remove yourself from the premises. I will have security escort you."

"That won't be necessary." Oliver said shortly. "I will personally ensure we are out in time. It's obvious that we have a differing philosophy. So here's what's going to happen."

"You think you control how this works, do you?"

"I do, Wayne." Oliver said, stepping even closer to put almost no space between the two of them. "You forget: If you're serious about that whole "No killing ever" ideal, you're at a disadvantage."

"And that is?"

"If you threaten her or me or anyone else, I will not hesitate to put an arrow through your eye. You can ask Deathstroke about that."

With that, Oliver turned and put his arm around Felicity, placing his hand in the small of her back. He could feel her jump slightly at the contact.

"So, with that, here's how this will work: You are here, I am there. If you have an issue with someone in Starling, you contact me, I take care of it. If I have an issue with someone here, I contact you, you take care of it."

"I'm just supposed to agree with this?"

"Yes." Oliver said with a smirk. "I don't trust you, Wayne, and you certainly don't trust me. So, you stay out of my city."

Having said his piece, Oliver applied just the smallest amount of pressure to Felicity's back, pushing her along and out of the office of Bruce Wayne.

Forty minutes later, Oliver, Felicity and Diggle reached the car with as much of Felicity's belongings as they could collect. Per her contract with WayneTech, all of her projects were personal property until pushed into production. Therefore, there were crates of blueprints and folders, things too sensitive to be saved on any hard drive. Felicity's contract wasn't that rare but Wayne had apparently overextended his hand where she was concerned. Now, it was distinctly possible that something he wanted built would never seen production in Gotham City.

Felicity lived in a rather simple house in a small suburb of Gotham City, just a twenty minute drive from Wayne Tower. When they arrived, they spent about fifteen minutes getting all of the files and boxes into her house before sitting down in the living room.

As he sat, Oliver rubbed his eyes wearily before noticing that Felicity had sat on the couch next to him.

"Well, you were definitely right." Oliver said softly.

"I'm so sorry, Oliver." Felicity begged, placing her hand on his upper arm, eliciting a small chill from him. "I had my suspicions but I never thought that I would be so..."

"Right?" Diggle finished.

"Exactly."

"Felicity, the times you are wrong are few and far between. I just wish you would have let me know your real suspicions. I went in there almost unarmed."

"Almost?" Felicity asked curiously.

Slowly, Oliver pulled a small knife from its holster in the back of his pants along with a small computerized device.

"Bounces the metal detectors single away from me." Oliver said simply. "I can get basically anything through a metal detector this way."

"Very nice. Who made it?" Felicity asked, her eyes dancing as she examined the device.

"Sara built it with specs of some projects that you left on our server."

"Really? It's very impressive since I didn't leave a complete blueprint."

"Yeah, you'll have to ask her about that."

"I will the next time I see her."

"Speaking of that-"

"Oliver."

The way she said his name made him want to melt away. In just a single word, he could see all the pain that he had caused her appear as if it had just happened yesterday.

"Oliver," she repeated. "I can't."

"You can't what?" Oliver countered. "I'm not asking you to return to the Foundry. Not yet anyway. I'm hoping that you'll want to eventually, even if it's just part time."

"You can't do what we do part-time." Felicity said meaningfully.

"You mean what we do." Oliver said, pointing at Diggle and himself. Taking a deep breath, Oliver stopped himself from continuing. He didn't like where this conversation was going to go.

Changing the subject, Oliver spoke again.

"What will you do now?"

"Well, now that I am the disgraced former Director of Computer Design and Research of WayneTech, I'm basically unhireable at the level that I was used to work at. I'll have to go back to being just an IT director or something."

"You're not unhireable. Not for me."

When she realized what he was talking about, Felicity quickly adopted a look of anger and shook her head.

"Absolutely not. I'm not taking your charity, Oliver."

"It's not charity." Oliver said firmly. "While I was coming out here to check out Wayne, I was also coming to recruit you back to QC. We have a ton of new projects on the horizon and no one I trust to run them. I would like you to come back to Starling and QC."

"And you?"

Oliver was starting to grind against her new-found ability to push his buttons. Settling himself in, he decided honesty was the best policy.

"Yes, Felicity, I miss you." Oliver admitted, very aware that Diggle was still in the room. "Starling City hasn't been the same as you left. But don't for a minute think that's why I'm offering you this job. QC needs you, Felicity. There's no one better at what you do than you and if QC is going to compete against LexTech and WayneTech, we need you."

"What's the actual position?" Felicity asked, sounding moderately interesting. Seeing that interest, Oliver dove in.

"There are two potential positions. The first is Director of the Integrated Technologies department. Basically, you would be the project leader on all of our government contracts. The second is...slightly different."

"Different?"

"The second is a newly created position. Just for you, I might add. Your official title would be Technological Director of Governmental Affairs. Your actual job would be the handling of any "black" projects."

"Off-the-books stuff?" Felicity asked. "Is it legal?"

"Yes and no. I will admit that there will occasionally be things designed and constructed in that department for my own personal use. But mostly, it is Top Secret government level projects. The bonus for this position is that there is only one person you answer to."

"You." Felicity replied. "What makes you think that's a bonus?"

"Because I trust you." Oliver shot back confidently. "And because I trust you, you will have almost completely free reign over the department, provided I get weekly reports on the progress of all projects."

Once Oliver was done speaking, he could see the gears working in Felicity's head. At a bare minimum, Oliver was glad that she was even considering it. For nearly a minute, the three of them sat in silence as Oliver waited for her answer. Suddenly, Felicity looked up, a rather stoic look on her face.

"I need to be told about any projects you intend to use for your nightly activities before the project is started."

"Does that mean you'll do it?" Oliver asked tentatively.

"I'm not done, Oliver." Felicity said with a smile. "I report only to you. Anything that the Board needs to know, you inform them."

"Done."

"Also, I want Sara with me at all times."

"What?" Oliver asked in shock. "Sara is the head of security."

"Well, that's new." Felicity said with a smile. "Then here's what I would like: move my office near her office. I would like to be near Sara. Regardless of whether I return to the Foundry someday, my boss and close friend is Oliver Queen, renowned troublemaker. While I have gotten better, I'm not going to be able to take on armed assassins by myself so I want Sara to be like Diggle is for you."

"I'll talk to her. I'm sure it won't be a big deal." Oliver said, grinning from ear to ear. "You know I never imagined that you would say yes this quickly."

"Let me reiterate, Oliver: I am not returning to the Foundry. You may need my help on occasion and in those cases, I will do my best to provide it but I'm not sitting down in that bunker all night every night."

"I understand, Felicity, I'm just glad you're coming home."

"Me too." Felicity replied, a small smile appearing on her face.

Five days later, Oliver sat in the same boardroom that he had before he left with Felicity to his right, waiting for Isabel to start the meeting. From the moment that Felicity had walked into the room, Oliver had been quite amused to see that Isabel was doing her best to melt Felicity with her eyes, a trait that was quite possible for Isabel to have.

"So, Mr. Queen, it seems that you were successful in your quest to bring Ms. Smoak back to QC. Welcome back, Ms. Smoak."

"Thank you, Isabel." Felicity said, a small smirk on her face.

"I was successful. Felicity has agreed to join QC as the Technological Director of Governmental Affairs. Now, per her request, she will not be making many reports to the Board. Instead, as he only immediate superior, I will be making reports for her, allowing more time to continue work."

"Of course." Isabel said dismissively. "Now, onto important business, what is the state of our facilities in Gotham City?"

Before Oliver could answer, Felicity jumped down Isabel's throat. Obviously, she was ready to show how capable she was.

"Most of the facilities in Gotham City remain top of the line. However, it is the human element that is lacking. Many of those placed in charge have allowed their distance from Starling encourage a lackadaisical atmosphere."

"Ms. Smoak, upon accepting the job offer, went on the tours with me." Oliver continued. "Her expertise was well received by the staff there. However, after reviewing their performance, Felicity does have a number of suggestions. These include but are not limited to a complete overhaul of management, a more direct line of influence from my office to Gotham and several small technological advancements which should save us a significant amount of money."

Apparently, with these "suggestions," Isabel had had more than enough.

"This is all very nice and we will take it under advisement." Isabel said before obviously trying to continue on with the meeting.

"No, you won't." Oliver replied, his firmest CEO voice coming out.

"Excuse me?"

"These are not truly suggestions, Isabel. How many of you went to MIT? How many of you literally invented QC's software defense network? Felicity Smoak is easily the most intelligent person I know and if she says that these are things that will make an improvement on our holdings in Gotham City, then that's what will happen."

"She is a computer genius, maybe." Isabel shot back. "But last I checked, she had less business experience than anyone at this table."

"True." Oliver answered, a smile actually creeping onto his face. "However, before I took sole possession of this company, we were stuck selling at only $55 per share. But, once I gained complete control and started making my own decisions, we are now selling at nearly double that price!"

"Anyone could have made those decisions, Mr. Queen." Isabel retorted. "They were surefire projects."

"Really? The virus protection network that you told me wouldn't work? The one that could finance computer research for nearly fifty years? That one? Or what about the military defense net? That anti-missile network that would never make it to prototype stage? I'm fairly certain that there is now NO WAY for any ICBM to hit any part of the continental United States now, effectively eliminating foreign nuclear threat to close range detonation, a much more difficult concept."

"You act as though you had anything to do with that."

"I went against the Board's requests on both of those matters!" Oliver roared. "You told me they were too risky, that they would never work. Now, QC has never been in a better place and that was without Felicity! Now that I have someone who actually understands the computer jargon that the tech people spit at me, we'll be able to take QC to places we had never dreamed of."

"You really believe that?" Felicity whispered softly to him.

"Of course I do." Oliver answered before turning back to the rest of the Board. "Felicity will spend two weeks establishing her work here before spending six weeks in Gotham, reformatting the staff and technology of the Gotham branch. Then, she will return to Starling and we can really get down to work."

Everyone in the room seemed shocked at the confidence that Oliver delivered this information with. In the past, Oliver may have asked for permission. Now, he was informing the Board of his intentions. Noticing their shock, Oliver spoke again.

"You forget that you all started somewhere too. Four years as CEO of one of the world's largest corporation is a pretty good crash course in business."

Standing up, Oliver buttoned his jacket before addressing the board again.

"I will be escorting Felicity to her office. Please, continue this meeting without me."

After showing Felicity to her new office, the pair of them, along with Diggle and Sara, made their way to Oliver's alternate penthouse. Oliver rarely used this apartment but after Diggle and Sara had torched his apartment to cover his injuries, the use of it became necessary. It was actually much nicer than his regular apartment but Oliver had long outgrown extravagant taste, preferring something significantly more simple.

So, when Oliver walked into the elegant abode, he had to suppress a shudder at the amount of money spent on this place. While his other apartment would have been considered elegant, if a bit aged, this one, which numerous living magazines had already examined, would have been called "chic" and "modern." Even though Oliver had been raised with money, he had preferred the more classic style of Queen Mansion to the modern style that was expected of the average CEO. So, to perpetuate this expectation, he had bought this place and had hardly stepped foot into it since.

Once he was inside, Oliver quickly threw the coat that he had worn in the chilly spring air onto the arm of the couch. Speaking, Oliver activated the apartment's media centers.

"House, TV on." Oliver said softly.

Instantly, the giant TV mounted to the wall turned on and tuned to the news, which was mid-broadcast.

"...the manhunt, led by FBI Special Agent Catalina Flores, focuses on the Gotham City vigilante known as The Batman. In the last six months, information attributed to The Batman has led to the arrest of Crime Bosses Carmine Falcone, Salvatore Maroni and Tony Zucco along with former Police Commissioner Gillian Loeb and several high-ranking detectives with the department."

"Well, we never had the FBI after us at least." Felicity muttered softly.

"No, instead we were forced to work with Waller." Diggle growled, memories of their first encounter with the Suicide Squad floating into his head.

"Either way, we've worked our way into a casual relationship with Waller and she keeps organizations like the FBI off our back." Oliver said quietly, closing his eyes as he spoke. Oliver had slept sparsely during his trip to Gotham and back and the pain in his back still kept him awake a night. As a result, Oliver was more exhausted than he could remember.

Felicity must have noticed because she placed a gentle hand on his knee, squeezing shortly before letting go.

"You ok?" Felicity asked simply.

"Just in pain." Oliver admitted. "My back is starting to peel and the skin is very raw."

"Gross."

"In other news, LexTech announced plans to offer stocks publicly for the first time at the end of the month. As a result, the company will be rebranded as LexCorps with new divisions in bioscience, pharmaceuticals and military weaponry."

"Just great." Oliver replied. "Just when things looked to be settling in at work."

"But, the most important announcement is that LexCorps will be looking to cross the continental United States, announcing plans to open a second branch of LexCorps in Starling City, putting it in direct competition with Oliver Queen's Queen Consolidated."

"Of course, someone else looking to poach on the rebuilding of Starling after Slade's attack." Sara whispered almost to herself.

"Great. As if Wayne being The Batman wasn't bad enough. Now, I'm going to have to deal with Lex Luthor working in my backyard." Oliver answered.

"We need to make sure that things are secure here and we need to have a big announcement. Soon." Felicity replied. "I'm delaying my trip to Gotham. Before I go, we're announcing something large to coincide with the day after LexCorp's public offering."

"Are you sure? You were going to get your stuff when you went back. Plus, I thought you couldn't get yourself a place until you closed your Gotham accounts."

"Not a big deal. I'll just go live with Thea and Roy in the mansion."

"I'll let them know you're coming." Oliver replied with a smile, knowing that it would be nice to have Felicity back in town full time.

"Thanks." Felicity said as she stood up. "I'm going to go get my stuff from my hotel room and then make my way over there."

"I'm texting Thea right now."

"Good." Felicity said before leaning in and kissing Oliver on the cheek. "I'll see you later. Bye, John. Bye, Sara."

"Bye." Both Sara and Diggle said in unison.

Watching as she left, all Oliver could feel was the strange heat on his cheek. Once she was out of sight, Oliver raised his hand to touch the place where her lips had touched his face.

"Earth to Ollie." Sara said, a smirk on his face.

"Oh, we've lost him." Diggle added, sharing the same smirk that Sara's face held.

"No, you haven't." Oliver replied absentmindedly. "Did we ever find Prometheus?"

"Sure did." Diggle said, his grin growing larger. "I knocked him out and then called Amanda in."

"Good."

With Oliver out of commission for the next few days, there was nothing to do but wait around. Later that evening, Oliver intended to drive to the Foundry and work on some open cases. But for the rest of the afternoon, he was content to simply sit around the apartment and watch the news with two of his oldest friend.

As he did, his mind wandered to Felicity. While she hadn't rejoined his crusade to better Starling, she had returned home. Oliver had to admit that even if she never returned to the Foundry having her around was better than her being 3,000 miles away in the constant presence of that arrogant son of a bitch, Bruce Wayne.

With a content smile, one fueled by Felicity's return, Oliver dozed off to sleep there in his living room, finally able to really sleep.


	4. III: Merlyn

It was almost four o'clock in the morning, six days after his return to Starling, during Oliver's last run of The Glades when he got the call.

"Diggle?" Oliver asked, stopping to catch his breath and answer his communicator.

_"Call just came over the police scanner. Demeter Lantos, owner/operator of Lantos Security and one of the richest men in the city, was found dead in his mansion tonight."_

"Why is that my concern?"

_"He was found with two black arrows sticking out of his chest."_

The second the words were out of Diggle's mouth, his heart stopped.

"Did you say black arrows?"

_"I did."_ Diggle replied shortly.  _"You do know what that means, right?"_

"It means Merlyn. We haven't heard anything from him since he left Starling. Why now?"

_"I have no idea but we need to move on it before he has a chance to do something else."_

"Agreed." Oliver said before switching his communicator over to Sara and Roy's line. "Return to base."

_"Why?"_ Roy asked in confusion.

"Diggle, just called me. Demeter Lantos was found with two black arrows in him."

_"Black arrows? Like Merlyn?"_ Sara asked softly.

"Exactly like Merlyn." Oliver replied. "So, return to base."

_"Got it."_ Roy replied before cutting his comm with Sara following shortly thereafter.

Quickly, Oliver raced down the side of the building he was on and got to his jet black motorcycle. As the engine burst to life, all Oliver could think of was Malcolm Merlyn. Why had he chosen now to return? If it really was him, what was his purpose?

Within minutes, Oliver pulled into the secret garage entrance that he had installed into the ArrowCave just a few months earlier. Now, he was able to dismount his bike and being changing into his regular attire in privacy without having to sneak back into his own hideout. As he removed his mask, Sara and Roy quickly entered. After shutting their own bikes down, they each removed their own respective masks.

"So, I get that Merlyn is back in town." Roy said as the three of them entered the ArrowCave proper with Diggle manning the computers. "But why pull us off the streets?"

"Because it's been three years since anyone as seen The Dark Archer. We don't need any sightings of Green Arrow or his team anywhere near downtown on the night that some billionaire got shot in the chest with a couple of arrows."

"Two billionaires." Diggle said shortly. "Calista Silvia fell off the top of her own penthouse apartment onto a passing taxi. She had four black arrows sticking out of her."

"Jesus." Roy muttered softly.

"Yeah, but that's not the worst part." Diggle replied.

"What could be worse than two billionaires killed with black arrows within an hour of each other." Sara asked curiously.

"They were both on the List."

Suddenly, everyone in the room turned to Oliver.

"Excuse me?" Roy asked.

"Both Demeter Lantos and Calista Silvia were on the List of names that my father gave me."

For nearly thirty seconds, the others were completely silent before Diggle delivered his news.

"They also put up money for Tempest, the same organization that Moira gave money to hide the remains of the Queen's Gambit."

"So, Tempest was what they called their group." Roy said firmly. "They used that as a codename for their work with The Undertaking."

"This is all too much coincidence." Oliver replied, nodding his head in agreement. "I believe that Merlyn is back in town."

"Why? What could he be after now? Thea knows about him and has already said that she doesn't give a shit."

"I don't know, Roy." Oliver answered softly. "But I believe I have a trip to Central City in my future."

"What does Barry have to do with this?" Diggle asked.

"Not Barry." Sara replied cautiously. "Moira."

* * *

In the months after Oliver's war with Slade, his relationship with Moira did not improve. In fact, if at all possible, it got worse. When Thea finally managed to put two and two together, Thea suddenly understood the tension that Oliver had lived with for the last few months. While his sister had initially been angry with him for not telling her, she understood why he hadn't told her, especially once she found out what he and Roy did at night.

Once Thea knew, Oliver decided that keeping up with appearances no longer mattered. In a stunning announcement just weeks after his mother's inauguration as Starling City's mayor, Oliver revealed his intention to back another candidate if and when a recall election occurred. After Queen Consolidated had spent a fortune cleaning up the Glades, there was no one in Starling City with a higher star power than Oliver Queen.

So, when the opportunity arose one year later in the form of a city-wide petition to remove Moira Queen as mayor, Oliver struck. Not only did he lead the charge for a new candidate, he picked someone that he knew would be viewed as a superior candidate: Adam Donner, the current District Attorney of Starling City. Not only did Donner have a sterling public record, plus a degree in economics from Starling State University, but he had also been the prosecuting attorney in Moira Queen's trial.

While he hadn't succeeded in getting her put behind bars, the imagery of Moira Queen on the stand was all they needed. Shown throughout his brief campaign, Donner won in a landslide. Less than a month later, he was inaugurated. Within a week, Moira packed up and purchased a new house in Central City.

Oliver hadn't seen or spoke to her since.

Now, he was pulling into the driveway of the fairly lavish house she had moved into. The rumor mill around Moira Queen in Central City was surprising. Despite being overwhelmingly the wealthiest person in the city, she was almost never seen. To be honest, Oliver was surprised she remained in the country. Some part of her probably wanted to remain close to Oliver and Thea and staying the country assured that she would hear about her wildly successful children on the national news.

As Oliver pulled in, he noticed that the house was very much styled similarly to Queen Mansion. Oliver knew that couldn't be an accident but instead a reminder of home and of what (in Oliver's opinion) she had tried to destroy with her deceit.

Putting the car in park, Oliver stepped out and quickly approached the front door. Taking a deep breath to collect himself, Oliver rang the doorbell. For what seemed like hours, Oliver waited. And waited.

And waited.

Finally, Oliver heard a bustle as the sound of numerous locks, both rudimentary and electronic, were released. Once Oliver heard the last lock pop, the door swung open and Oliver came face to face with his mother for the first time in over a year.

For several seconds, both of them stared at each other before Oliver broke the silence.

"I've never known you to open your own doors." Oliver muttered condescendingly.

"I never knew you cared so much about your mother that you would fly halfway across the county to see her." Moira fired back.

"I don't." Oliver replied shortly, knowing that it would cut her deep. For whatever reason, since the news of Thea's true father came out, Oliver couldn't restrain himself privately around this woman. Whenever it was just the two of them, Oliver did everything he could to cause her as much pain as possible.

"Then why are you here?" Moira asked curly.

"Business." Oliver replied simply.

"Business?" Moira scoffed. "I hear business at Queen Consolidated is booming. What could you possibly want with me?"

"Nothing." Oliver said with a smart smile. "If I had that a question on that kind of business, I would go to Walter. This is  _another_ kind of business."

For a second, Moira looked at Oliver, a stunned look on her face. For years, Oliver knew that Moira assumed that he had returned to Starling City just as selfish and uncaring as he had been. It simply manifested itself differently. Then, Oliver could tell that she slowly put the pieces together. The disappearing acts, the poor excuses and the visibly tired CEO of Queen Consolidated all added up to something that was not at all the Oliver Queen she remembered.

While they had never discussed it, Oliver was fairly certain that his mother was well aware of how he spent his nights.

"Well, do come in then." Moira said, stepping aside and letting Oliver pass.

As Oliver walked inside, he noticed that the similarities to Queen Mansion didn't stay simply on the outside. The entrance hall was almost identically styled to the one at Queen Mansion. Looking around, Oliver noticed that some of the art that had previously been displayed at his own home now hung here, his own mother's way of bringing Starling City with her.

Without uttering a single word, Moira led Oliver to the closest study, motioning for him to sit. Doing as instructed, Oliver sat.

"A drink?" Moira asked succinctly.

"No. I want this to be brief." Oliver replied.

"Then, by all means, begin."

"Fine. When was the last time you heard from Malcolm Merlyn?"

"Excuse me?" Moira asked, obviously surprised.

"It's not a trick question, Mother." Oliver barked. "When was the last time you heard from Merlyn?"

"The last time I saw Malcolm was when he came attempting to claim Thea. Then, I told him about my contact with Ra's al Ghul and he left and I haven't seen him since."

"I didn't ask when the last time you saw him. I asked you when you had  _spoke_ to him last."

Surprisingly, Oliver could tell that this question threw her off. In his time as The Green Arrow, Oliver had become much better at reading and simply knowing people. Knowing his mother as he did, Oliver could tell based on how she worded her answer that there was information she was omitting.

Now, Oliver was better equipped to call her out on it.

"W-why?"

"Because two people in Starling were murdered with black arrows."

"It could be a copycat." Moira said simply.

"Both of them were in Tempest."

At the mention of her former criminal organization, Moira Queen noticeabely fell apart. Instantly, she began looking around the room as if she were looking for an escape. Moving quickly, Oliver offered her no time to think about any of that.

"Talk!" Oliver shouted, causing his mother to flinch in fear. "I know you've heard from Merlyn! Now tell me!"

"OK!" Moira screeched. "I heard from him six months ago. He had returned to Nanda Parbat."

"Why did he return and why did he call you?"

"He calls me occasionally still." Moira cried, tears streaming down her face. "I think it's his way of taunting me, letting me know that he's still out there."

"And why did he return to Nanda Parbat? According to you, he was released from The League of Assassins."

"He was." Moira confirmed, nodding sloppily. "However, his actions in Starling City angered Ra's and he started chasing after Malcolm. Malcolm returned to curry favor with Ra's and apparently succeeded. He said that he was there to make Ra's happy but that he had also found family there."

"Family?"

"Merlyn talks in riddles." Moira said dismissively. "He was probably just saying that he had found what he was looking for, if he was looking for anything."

"You don't think it's strange for a man who came back from the death to say that he found family!"

"No. Why would I?"

"I don't know." Oliver admitted harshly. "Maybe he was looking at ways to try and bring Tommy or Rebecca back to life."

"Is that even possible?"

"We thought Merlyn himself was dead, didn't we? Who's to say there isn't something out there that could bring people back from the dead." Oliver posed before thinking aloud to himself. "Maybe he really was dead."

"What?"

"Well, Merlyn basically told you that he had faked his death but uh-The Arrow was there when he died." Oliver said, doing his best to cover his near slip.

"How do you know that?" Moira asked softly.

"Felicity Smoak used to work with The Arrow before her abduction. She told me on one of my more curious days that it had been The Green Arrow who had killed him. Now, that guy knew how to kill. You would think he would know the difference between dead and faking it."

"You would think so." Moira replied, a very curious look on her face.

"But what if he really was dead but through some kind of unknown magic or chemical..."

Just as he spoke, Oliver realized what he was saying.

Some kind of chemical, something with untold ability, something of an Asian origin.

To Oliver, that sounded exactly like the Mirakuru.

"Were there people in Tempest that were unfailingly loyal to Merlyn?"

"Yes. There were several."

"Name them." Oliver commanded.

"Well, there was Samuel Thompson, Jed Kyle, Demeter Lantos-"

"And Catalina Silvia?"

"Yes." Moira answered, very confused. "How did you know?"

"Turn on the news."

Standing up, Oliver quickly turned and walked out of the room.

"Oliver, where are you going?" Moira shouted, following him out of the room and back into the entrance hall.

"I have work to do, Mother." Oliver replied shortly before turning. "Thank you for the help."

That said, Oliver turned and marched out of the door. Once he was safely away from the house, Oliver called Sara.

"I'll be back in Starling City in four hours. Assemble the team in the ArrowCave then. I think we may have ourselves a very big problem."

_"What?"_  Sara asked.

"The Mirakruru. What else?"

* * *

Walking into the ArrowCave, Oliver was pleased to see everyone there plus one pleasant surprise. As Oliver approached Felicity, she smiled slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked, the question bursting out of him before he could think about it.

"And I thought you would be happy to see me." Felicity said, a small amount of sadness in her voice.

"I am." Oliver admitted. "Just surprised."

"If there's something to do with the Mirakuru, then we need all hands on deck." Felicity informed him. "Which means you need Diggle in the field with you, not working a computer or driving the getaway car. So, when they called me, I answered."

"Thanks." Oliver said, a small grin on his face before it quickly vanished. Turning in place, Oliver informed them of the content of his conversation with his mother before concluding it.

"I believe that the Mirakuru has another alternative use."

"You think that it can bring people back from the dead?" Sara asked.

"I do." Oliver admitted. "Think about its properties in a living host. It restores cells at an alarming rate, creating muscles that form beyond normal limits. This leads to increased strength, stamina, even brain function. Now, if you're already dead, if it posses the ability to jump start the system, why couldn't it bring you back to the way you were?"

"What about the insanity?" Felicity asked.

"Well, Merlyn was plenty crazy before he died." Diggle replied.

"True." Oliver added, a smile on his face. "However, it is simply returning your body to the way it was. But, when it is present in a living host, it takes your body passed the point of control. When you breach that point, that's when the insanity kicks in."

Looking around the room, Oliver could see that they all appeared to be in some state of understanding.

"Now, before we get to nuts here, know that this is simply a theory."

"A good one." Felicity countered. "There are chemicals in the Mirakuru that we can't even identify. It's quite possible that something in there would kick start the heart again."

"The only issue I have is that if you're assuming Merlyn got it through The League." Sara said shortly. "The League has been around for almost 300 years for as long as we can find records on them."

"So?" Roy asked.

"The Mirakuru was created by the Japanese during World War II, only eighty years ago."

"Supposedly." Oliver replied. "Who's to say that there was a member of The League working for the Japanese and they simply introduced it to them, masking it as an invention of the Japanese to avoid suspicion."

"This is all speculation." Felicity said shortly. "What we need is another sample of the Mirakuru. Without it, we can't know its real properties."

"That's the other issues, Oliver." Diggle added. "As far as we know, all samples of the Mirakuru have been destroyed with Wilson and Blood two years ago."

"Assuming Wilson is actually dead."

"Which we do seriously need to question since he came back from an arrow in his eye." Oliver said.

"Yeah, an arrow in the eye and being dropped out of an airplane from 80,000 feet onto the Sahara is another thing." Roy replied.

"We could try it with you." Sara muttered, a grin on her face.

"Actually, we're going to need to draw some more of your blood, Roy. See if we can't get some idea from your blood."

"Haven't we done this before?" Roy complained.

"Yes, but that was before I worked for WayneTech and had much better equipment for it." Felicity said, a grin on her face.

"I'll help." Sara replied, moving next to Felicity.

"Fine. Let's get this over with."

* * *

Two hours later, Felicity and Sara poured over the final results of Roy's bloodwork. Now, every member of Team Arrow, Felicity included, kept massive amounts of blood for insurance purposes, in case someone was shot or stabbed as was a frequent possibility in their line of work. When Oliver asked why they couldn't use that, Felicity replied with something about them wanting a fresh specimen so they could utilize as much of the Mirakuru as they could.

Personally, Oliver thought that neither Felicity or Sara minded seeing Roy with his shirt off but he kept that comment to himself.

"So what do we have?"

"We can't be certain." Felicity said, qualifying whatever result she had gotten. "However, it does appear that there could be certain qualities of the Mirakuru that could potentially revitalize dead flesh."

"So we basically have no idea." Diggle said with a grin.

"Correct." Sara answered, a concerned look on her face. "The only way to know for certain is to obtain a pure sample and we don't know of any that exist anymore."

"Unless we want to make a trip to Asia and break into The League's headquarters." Oliver replied, mostly joking.

"Absolutely not." Sara shot back, fear in her eyes. "Even as good as we are, there are hundreds of members of the League. There's no way we make it out alive."

"It was mostly a joke, Sara."

"Well, good." Sara mumbled to herself. "So what do we do now?"

"Nothing." Oliver replied downtroddenly. "There's nothing we can do. We don't know enough about the Mirakuru, we can't confirm Merlyn's location and we don't have the ability to obtain a pure sample of the Mirakuru to confirm our suspicions."

"There is one thing we could do." Felicity whispered softly.

As Oliver turned to her, he could tell that even she hated whatever her idea was. There was a look of apprehension that Felicity rarely bore and that alone worried Oliver.

"What?" Oliver whispered.

"You thought that the Mirakuru may not have been for him, right?" Felicity asked. "You mentioned Tommy and Rebecca."

"Yeah, so what?" Oliver replied, not liking where this was going.

"Well, we need to check their grave sites. Merlyn may have had them moved at some point if he thought that the Mirakuru could bring them back to life."

Oliver's suspicion had been right. He  _hated_ this idea. The thought of disturbing the resting place of his best friend was already destroying him inside. However, he also knew that Felicity was right. They did need to check because if the bodies were gone, then that opened up a whole new can of worms.

"OK." Oliver choked out.

"What?" Diggle fired.

"She's right." Oliver admitted. "We have to come up with a cover story to exhume the bodies."

"I think I have an idea."

* * *

_"...reports say that Oliver Queen, CEO of Queen Consolidated, has requested the bodies of Rebecca and Thomas Merlyn be moved from their current resting place to the family plots at Queen Mansion, alongside the memorial site for former QC CEO Robert Queen, Oliver Queen's father who died at sea after the crash of the Queen's Gambit eight years ago. No one is quite sure why Mr. Queen chose now to make the request but per our sources, the request should be honored."_

Oliver wasn't surprised that people were curious about why he chose now to move the Merlyn family graves. So, the next day, he released a statement of his own.

_"Thomas, or Tommy as my family called him, was the closest thing to a brother that I ever had. After his mother's death, Malcolm Merlyn, the man we know to have led The Undertaking, left Tommy alone for nearly two years. During those years, Tommy became just as much my family as my own blood relatives. Now, Tommy lies in the middle of a public cemetery with no friends or family nearby because of the sale of all of Malcolm Merlyn's assets to repay the city. For quite a while, I've discussed with my sister, who was as close to Tommy as I was, moving Tommy's grave to Queen Mansion but it never seemed like the right time. But now, as we look back on the anniversary of The Undertaking, no time seems better."_

Watching himself on the news was strange but over the years as his public influence grew, Oliver had gotten used to it.

_"Because of Malcolm's time away, Tommy once told me that my own father felt more like a father to him than his own. So, this request simply comes as a way to bring Tommy, and in turn Rebecca, back to the family that he felt was his own."_

The act, while not really an act at all, had worked as the vehicles delivering the coffins of Thomas and Rebecca Merlyn pulled into the drive at Queen Mansion.

"Are you going to tell me what this is really about?" Thea asked softly as the pair of them watched the vehicles make their way up the long drive.

"The two CEOs that were killed last week were both on Dad's list." Oliver answered. "We think that Merlyn is operating back in Starling. We also have theories about the Mirakuru being able to be used as a way to bring people back from the dead."

"People like Tommy or Rebecca." Thea offered.

"Yes." Oliver answered. "Plus, I'm also moving a friend back home."

"Or a brother, right?"

Finally, the two black hearses pulled up. For the next hour, the men with the hearses installed the equipment that would lower the two coffins into the graves that had been dug next to Robert's memorial. However, Oliver asked the men (telling them they would double their pay) if they would back off for a few minutes so that the family could have a few moments alone.

Once the men were out of site, Diggle, Felicity and Sara raced out of the house, joining Roy, Oliver and Thea at the gravesite. Working quickly, Roy and Diggle pried the top of Tommy's coffin off.

To say that the contents were startling was a severe understatement.

"Oh my god." Felicity whispered, her hand covering his mouth in shock.

"This can't be right." Oliver muttered, stepping closer.

But it was right. Despite their wishes, there was no mistaking that face. Laying in the coffin was none other than Malcolm Merlyn, quite clearly dead. The body appeared relatively fresh as almost no decomposition had taken place. This means that sometime in the last six months, Malcolm Merlyn had been killed and placed in his son's coffin.

"How the hell is this possible?" Diggle questioned softly.

"Open the other one." Oliver grunted.

Moving as quickly as possible, Diggle and Roy opened the other one. This one was exactly as advertised, holding the obviously decaying remains of Rebecca Merlyn.

With this discovery, there was only one question that could be asked.

"Where is Tommy's body?" Thea asked in awe.

* * *

Two days later, after nearly destroying the ArrowCave and the remote lab he had set up in the basement of Queen Mansion, Oliver still hadn't slept and was angrier than he could ever remember being.

Sitting around him, looking equally as bleary was the rest of Team Arrow, Felicity and Thea included, completely stumped.

"Maybe it's a clone?" Roy suggested, a tired grin on his face.

"Shut up, Roy." Thea growled.

Over the past two days, Thea had been nearly as upset as Oliver had been, if not more. Oliver had forgotten that during his five years on the island, the pair of them had frequently interacted, probably forming a bond as two people that had both lost someone very close to them. So, it made sense for Thea to be on edge.

"Thea." Oliver scolded softly. "There has to be some kind of explanation."

"Ollie, we've spent two days skipping work and classes floating around all kind of ideas and nothing is making any sense." Sara replied. "Tommy's body is missing, Malcolm Merlyn is dead and we're no closer to having any idea of what's going on with a potential Dark Archer sighting than we were a week ago."

"I know. There just has to be something."

"Well, there could be one thing." Felicity whispered.

Over the past two days, Felicity had hardly said anything. He knew that she had known Tommy less than anyone in the room other than Roy so maybe that was some part of it. However, Oliver's real guess as to why she had been so quiet was that she felt out of place. She hadn't been a part of this group for over two years and still didn't consider herself a full-time member, even if her recent perfect attendance said otherwise.

"What is it?" Oliver asked, being as gentle as possible.

"Could Tommy be the Dark Archer?"

Little did Felicity know but that question offered significantly more questions than any answer they could have provided. It was possible, Oliver had to admit. However, if he was, then why? If Tommy was alive, why hadn't he told Oliver? Why hadn't he returned to Starling if he was alive? But as Oliver asked these questions, he realized that the answers to these questions could be frightening.

"You're right." Oliver admitted as Thea looked at him in shock. "It's possible! We don't know anything other than there's someone pumping arrows into members of The List and Tommy's body is missing."

"Yeah, but The Dark Archer was Merlyn, right?" Thea asked.

"Yes." Oliver replied. "And once Tommy found out who his father was, he resented him immensely. Attacking the others who helped with The Undertaking makes a lot of sense for Tommy especially if The League had something do to with his resurrection. Remember, The League hated The Undertaking."

"It broke our code." Sara added softly.

"So, if The Dark Archer is really coming after Tempest members, we need to look at who we think he's going after next."

"The List is too large." Diggle commented. "There's no way we can keep tabs on all of them."

"No," Oliver admitted. "but we may be able to put tabs on enough of them that if The Dark Archer comes after one of them, their communication networks would cross and we could find out about. I'm not saying it's a foolproof plan but it's the best we have."

"He's right." Felicity added. "It's really the only way to do it. I'll start tapping phones and hacking digital communication of former Tempest members."

"Good, Felicity. The rest of us need to keep an eye out when we're on patrols. If we hear of another attack by The Dark Archer, we retreat back here. We cannot be associated with this."

* * *

This was starting to get frustrating. For the last four days, there had been at least one attack by The Dark Archer. This forced Oliver to stay in while the others, Diggle included in a vigilante outfit of his own complete with bo staff just like Sara, patrolled the city. This night, he was watching from his office at Queen Tower. In the years since he started out as The Arrow, he had linked every piece of computer controlled equipment that he owned to the computers in the ArrowCave. It was in this way that Oliver could make it look like he was working when he was in fact communicating and directing his forces on patrol.

Tonight's murder had been of European oil magnate Victor Roskachev, owner of Trifecta Oil. Roskachev was the wealthiest and most connected man in the city. At this point, Oliver was wondering when the National Guard was going to be called in. This new Dark Archer was destroying Oliver, moving faster than he could anticipate and with no discernible pattern.

Oliver had gone through the List, both with computer and without, and could find no connection between any of the eleven former Tempest members that The Dark Archer had killed. He wasn't going through the list in any particular order and no defining characteristics could be determined that would filter them out from the rest of the Tempest members.

"Mr. Queen."

Oliver looked up and saw Felicity standing there in front of him, a list of files in hand. Obviously, she had business to discuss.

"Felicity, you can call me Oliver." Oliver replied, motioning for her to sit.

"No, Mr. Queen, I really can't." Felicity shot back stubbornly. "If I start calling you Oliver in private, I may call you Oliver in public. Even with my-"

"Even with your new position, you feel that showing that you are friends with me shows weakness." Oliver finished. "It shows that you didn't get the job on your own merit simply because you knew the famous billionaire CEO. How close am I?"

"Dead on as usual, Mr. Queen."

"Oliver." he insisted. "Felicity, when the others around the building realize just how good you are at your job, that is when they know that there's no one in the country better than you at what you do, they're going to respect you. They may hate you a bit for as good as you are, even if you are as nice to them as you always are to everyone else, but they will respect you."

"You're sure?"

"More sure than that about almost anything else right now." Oliver replied as he saw his business nemesis approaching him. "Good evening, Isabel."

"Oliver, Ms. Smoak." Isabel replied. Oliver was surprised to see that Isabel had even acknowledged Felicity, despite Felicity's new position. However, Oliver realized that Isabel was probably worried about her own place within QC since much of her investments had gone belly up in the past two years.

"What can I do for you?" Oliver asked, reverting back to CEO-mode.

"I have a question for you." Isabel said before darting her eyes towards Felicity. "A private one."

"Felicity, would you mind?" Oliver asked, the annoying grind barely hidden in his voice.

"Not at all, Oliver." Felicity replied, a slight growl in her voice.

"I'll talk to you about that proposal." Oliver shot back before redirecting his attention towards Isabel. "Now, your question?"

"Yes." Isabel answered as she sat across from him in the chair that Felicity had just vacated. "I've noticed that our Governmental Affairs Department has greenlighted sixteen new projects in the past two weeks, none of which had board approval. Just wondering when something is going to be done about that, because I'm sure that with Ms. Smoak being in charge of that department, you look at everything involving it."

"I do." Oliver admitted calmly. "And I approved all of those projects as you noticed."

"Yes, but the board of directors did not."

"They don't have to." Oliver said blandly with a grin. "I own 64% of Queen Consolidated with the intention of purchasing 6% more by the end of the year. As a result, I could fire the entire board if I wanted to. But, I haven't. I utilize the board, and you, as a set of advisers. However, certain advisers, including you, have not earned my trust enough to be included in these matters."

"Excuse me, Oli-"

"Don't call me, Oliver." Oliver roared sharply. "You think you may know me but you realistically have very little clue who I am?"

Oliver knew that this was the stress of the Dark Archer speaking but it was also something that he probably should have been said a long time ago.

"What is Tempest?" Oliver barked.

"I'm sorry?" Isabel questioned unconvincingly.

"Don't think you're fooling me. What is Tempest!?"

Again, Oliver could tell Isabel was going to deny any knowledge of what Tempest was. Unfortunately for her, Oliver had had enough. Jumping up from his place, Oliver launched himself at her, grabbing her by the throat and in one swift motion, flipped her head over heels so that her back slammed hard against his desk. Once she was there, Oliver instantly applied pressure to her thin throat, causing to her try and claw at his hand while gagging and gasping for air.

"We should have had this out years ago, Isabel." Oliver growled. "I knew that you were working for Wilson. I know that you've had regular contact with Malcolm Merlyn since he left Starling. If I had to guess, I would say that one of them, probably Wilson, wanted me back in Starling. So, they had you threaten my company. Well, you see how that worked out for you."

Isabel's only response was a gasp as her face started to turn blue.

"I know that you know I'm the Arrow." Oliver whispered into her ear as he leaned down next to her. "I've known it for almost three whole years now. So, here's how this is going to work. I'm going to let go of your throat and you're going to tell me what I want to hear. If I like what I hear, I let you go, you resign from QC and I never see you again. If I don't like what I hear, I'm going to see how many times I can break your neck with one hand. Clear?"

A panicked nod was her response. Seeing that, Oliver let go. Almost instantly, Isabel began spitting and gagging, doing everything she could to get air back into her lungs. Finally, after several seconds, she was able to speak.

"What do you want to know?" Isabel choked out.

"Why is Merlyn back in town?" Oliver asked. While he was fairly certain that the body in the casket was Malcolm's, he wanted to test Isabel, to see how much she knew about him.

"Malcolm Merlyn is dead, Queen." Isabel spat. "You know that since you had his son's body exhumed."

"I do know that. What I want to know is how was he killed and where is his son's body?"

"The last I'd heard, his son's body was wandering the Earth somewhere."

"Excuse me?" Oliver shot back, his heart stopping.

"Before Malcolm was killed, he was able to have his son resurrected using the same serum that was running through Slade's veins." Isabel said, her strength returning to her as she taunted Oliver. "Tommy Merlyn is alive, Queen, and has been for some time. You think I've been contacting Malcolm all this time? Malcolm has been dead at least since last Christmas. That's the first time Tommy came to my office."

"He's been here? In Starling?"

"And he hasn't even come to visit?" Isabel replied mockingly. "That's too sad."

"Go to hell." Oliver growled as he struck Isabel directly in the stomach, knocking all the air out of her lungs. Within seconds, she was vomiting blood all over Oliver's floor. "Now that's just disgusting. One more question: what was Tempest's original purpose?"

After throwing up what Oliver was fairly sure was everything she had eaten in the last two days, Isabel responded softly.

"Tempest was designed as a way for the elite of Starling City to spread our influence. We used it to buy political candidates and city officials to do our bidding. It was basically a small form Illuminati."

"With Malcolm Merlyn in charge?"

"There was no one in charge." Isabel barked out, words struggling to come as she still fought for air. "Meetings were called as we saw fit. Favors were called in, deals made. I believe your father, the self-serving bastard, agreed to join so that he could take Queen Consolidated to the top of the business world."

"He succeeded."

"He also brought Malcolm Merlyn in the group with him. Each member of Tempest was required to pay five million dollars which was placed in an off-shore account, only to be used when 66% of the group was in agreement with a plan. Well, there were over sixty members of Tempest. That means that before investment strategies were used, Tempest had 300 million dollars in the bank. That number was more than a billion after we worked our magic with it. That was after one year. With that money, we had unlimited resources."

"What does this have to do with that?"

"Malcolm Merlyn was the one who worked that magic. He was the one who was able to turn our large fortune into a massive one. We could have bought most of the countries in the world outright with the money we had. That money magic bought him a lot of favors."

"Favors which turned into The Undertaking."

"Correct." Isabel said as she leaned against Oliver's desk, obviously feeling weak. "It didn't help that your stupid mother became his sidekick once your bastard of a father kicked the bucket."

At the mention of his father, Oliver snapped. In a flash, he stepped forward and launched a crushing right hook into her face. Isabel absorbed the full force of the blow and collapsed on the floor. As Oliver watched her, he could see the blood starting to form around her head.

"Get out." Oliver growled. "You're bleeding all over my floor."

Groggily, Isabel stood to her feet and staggered out of the room. Oliver watched her go and once she was gone, he returned to his chair. For several minutes, he sat in silence, contemplating the information he had just heard. That was until he got the feeling that he was being watched.

Years of training had conditioned Oliver to be used to noticing anything that was out of the ordinary. Looking out the window, Oliver noticed where that feeling was coming from. Oliver made his way to his feet and then weakly walked to the window.

The setting sun made it so that Oliver could barely make out the outline of the person standing on the building across the street but that was all he needed. Oliver would never forget the outline of his first enemy.

Suddenly, his cell phone started ringing. Quickly, and nervously, Oliver fumbled to pull it out of his pocket before answering it.

"...hello?"

For a few seconds, there was no response. And then, like it had been yesterday, he heard his voice.

_"Ollie, I see that life as CEO is treating you well."_

It couldn't be.

"Tommy?"

_"In the flesh."_


	5. IV: Rochev

"How is this possible?" Oliver said as he stared at the face across from him.

"You know exactly how this is possible, Ollie." Tommy replied as he sat across from Oliver.

The pair of old friends had decided to meet in the back room of a restaurant that Oliver owned. It was where Oliver did most of his business deals anyway so no one would be terribly interested in who was entering the back door while Oliver would certainly hog the limelight out front.

"Well, to hear it explained would be wonderful."

"I suppose I can give you that." Tommy replied with that same smirk that he had used for years. "So, as you no doubt remember, I was killed on the night of the Undertaking."

"I vaguely remember that." Oliver answered sadly.

"So you also remember that you told me you hadn't killed my father?"

"I also remember that."

"Can you explain how he ended up with an arrow in his chest  _before_ the quake actually occurred?"

"I lied to you." Oliver admitted sheepishly. "I didn't want you to be angry at me. I knew you were going to die and I just wanted you to be at peace."

"I know." Tommy said with a sad smile. "At the time, I would have been upset with you had I survived. Now, I understand just what a worthless piece of shit my father was."

"So, I can assume that it was you who killed him?"

"You would assume incorrectly. It was Nyssa who killed him actually."

"Nyssa al Ghul?" Oliver asked in shock. "So it was The League of Assassins that brought you back?"

Tommy nodded as the door to the room opened with a waiter entering. After quickly ordering their food, Oliver asked the waiter for no interruptions until their food was brought it. After the waiter left the room, they continued.

"It was The League." Tommy confirmed. "They brought me back and they gave me my life back, along with my mission."

"Your mission?"

"My father thought that by returning to Nanda Parbat, he could curry favor with The Head of the Demon. He brought them my body and they used their restorative chemicals to bring me back to life. However, our payment for my return to life was that I swear my allegiance to The League for life. Only hours after I was reawakened, my training began."

"You were trained by The League?"

"You've seen what I've been doing since I returned to Starling. Although from what I've seen, you been doing most of your watching from your corner office."

"You make it hard to be The Green  _Arrow_ when members of the 1% are getting arrows pumped into their chest."

"I suppose." Tommy answered with a chuckle. "Either way, my training began and for eighteen months, that was all I did. Finally, I completed my training. However, confirmation into The League requires the successful completion of one assassination. My target was a Japanese merchant who was stealing land from the descendants of feudal leaders. It was a rather easy kill. When I returned to Nanda Parbat, my next target was to be my father. Unfortunately, he found out through his network and tried to attack me."

"Tried?" Oliver asked.

"Well, it is difficult to kill someone else when Nyssa al Ghul puts an arrow through your head." Tommy replied with a grin. "Within a day, we removed most of the vital organs and placed what was left of his body in my grave in Starling City. No one would ever know the difference."

This information was almost too much for Oliver to handle. For years, he had operated under the belief that his best friend was dead and that it was his fault. Now, his friend was back from the dead and a trained killer.

"I have a question." Oliver muttered finally.

"Shoot."

"Before The Undertaking, you believed that I was a psychopath, a mass murderer. But now, you're doing the exact same thing that I was doing. You're going through that List and just killing everyone."

"That's not a question."

"What makes what you're doing any different from me?"

"It's not." Tommy replied simply.

"Then what changed your mind?"

"When I saw just how terrible my father was. When I saw the awful things that our parents had done in the name of more money. More power. My father will say that he did it for vengeance but he didn't join Tempest for that reason. He joined Tempest to control the world and he was doing his very best to try."

The voice was the same but the tone was so different. In the past, Tommy had been so carefree. Even things weren't great for him towards the end of his previous life, there was always a very relaxed feel to Tommy. Now, things were different. Oliver could hear the same control, the same kind of focus that he often felt in himself now lay within Tommy.

It was disconcerting to see his best friend so different. Internally, Oliver wondered if this is what he looked like to everyone else when he had returned from the island.

"You said something about a mission?" Oliver asked.

"I figured you'd ask about that." Tommy replied, that clever smirk returning to his face. "Normally, I wouldn't be able to tell anyone but I figure you would get the connection sooner or later."

"You're killing everyone in Tempest."

"Almost, but not quite. I'm killing the people that were the main supporters of The Undertaking."

Oliver had never expected Tommy to be so frank about his actions in Starling City. Yet, here he was, talking to Oliver about killing billionaires as if it was nothing. It seemed that Tommy read the confusion on Oliver's face. He commented as such.

"What's the problem, Ollie?"

"I'm just surprised." Oliver admitted. "Tommy Merlyn, the same person who called me a murdering psychopath, killing billionaires without remorse. You know that I can't let you continue, right?"

"You're going to sit here and lecture me about murdering the same people that you spent a year going after!" Tommy screamed, flipping the table over in front of him. It was in this moment that Oliver truly saw that something about Tommy that had changed.

Anger most people had and held inside themselves. But what Oliver saw was not just anger.

It was rage. A rage potentially fueled by the Mirakuru.

Standing, Oliver reached back into his back pocket, grasping the flechette that he always held there.

"I've changed, Tommy." Oliver pleaded, knowing that he needed for his friend to understand. "I realized that the brand of justice I was delivering wasn't the way things should be done. I may kill occasionally now but only out of necessity."

"This IS a necessity!" Tommy shouted. "These people, my father included, destroyed this city! The League of Assassins may believe in destroying parts of the world in order to improve them but in much more subtle ways. We do not condone mass murder and destruction as a means of doing business."

"Then what do you believe in?"

"Controlled strikes. Political appointments." Tommy replied simply. "In the past, The Head of the Demon may have believed that mass destruction would get things done. Now, with his years of experience, he knows better. He knows that the world won't change in the face of destruction. Not permanently anyway. So, instead, we remove corrupt officials and replace them with ones that will work for us. Towards the betterment of all men."

"So the "controlled" murder of those on the list is better for everyone?" Oliver shot back. "Listen, I know how this sounds, coming from me and all, but there has to be another way. I tried this way and it got the Glades destroyed."

Finally, Oliver could tell that Tommy was done listening for this evening.

"Talk all you want about being the better man, or even just being a better man." Tommy snapped. "But you know that you've gotten weaker. No way Wilson should have given you as much trouble as he did. You've gone soft, Ollie. You've gotten too close to your allies."

"Too close?" Oliver asked, not liking where this conversation was going.

"Slade knew exactly where to hit you. Not Thea, not your mother, but Felicity. She's made you weak."

Before Oliver knew what his feet were doing, he had launched himself across the room, grabbing Tommy around the throat and hoisting him off the floor, letting his feet dangle while Tommy struggled for air.

"You will get out, Tommy." Oliver growled menacingly. "You will get out of Starling City and never come back. If I see you again, if you even come close to Starling City for the rest of time, I will not hesitate to put an arrow in each eye. Slade Wilson barely managed to survive one, I'd like to see you survive two."

With that, Oliver dropped Tommy, allowing him to collapse on the floor. With composure, Tommy stood and glared Oliver right in the eye.

"I'll see you tomorrow night then."

* * *

The next morning, Felicity and Oliver sat in Oliver's corner office. So far that morning, they had actually been discussing matters important to QC but finally the topic shifted to Tommy.

"So he's really alive?" Felicity asked in shock when Oliver finished relaying his story to her.

"Alive and very different from the Tommy I knew."

"How so?"

"There's an edge to him that wasn't there before." Oliver observed softly, mostly to himself. "When I mentioned that what he was doing was wrong, even though I understood the hypocrisy of what I was saying, he nearly lost it. Flipped the table over. He looked like he was on the verge of losing it. It looked familiar."

"Like Roy or Slade." Felicity said, finishing his thought.

"Exactly. I think there's something about being brought back from the dead that set him off. He's still in there but there's a strength, a conviction in his beliefs that Tommy never had before."

"It could be that it's simply unnatural. Maybe, even if we're able, being brought back from the dead is something we just shouldn't do."

"Maybe." Oliver replied, staring off towards the building where he had first seen Tommy the night before. "How are you enjoying being back in Starling?"

"To be honest, I'm loving it." Felicity replied with a smile. "I may have enjoyed working with Wayne, him being an egotistical maniac aside, but I enjoy the work that I get to do here much better. Plus, I get to build my own computer and database again. Do you realize how long it's been since I've gotten to do that? After Tockman fried the servers at The Foundry, I had to rebuild those but I haven't done anything since then! That's over two years! And, the new tech that QC gets that I can use publicly now without having to hide it-aaaand I'm rambling."

"Yes, yes you are." Oliver smirked.

"I really haven't done that in a long time." Felicity replied, curiously looking at him. "I wonder why."

"Maybe you didn't find Wayne attractive enough."

"Oh Wayne was plenty attractive." Felicity blurted out before realizing what she had just said. "And my filter is gone, too. Greeeat. Wait a minute, why would Wayne being attractive have anything to do with it?"

"You tend to do it most when you get nervous or when you're distracted. Most of your rambling in the past occurred while I was training. I don't think you were nervous around me, at least not anymore. But I think you were definitely distracted."

"By what!?" Felicity asked indignetly.

"Well, a few times I heard you mutter something about how you wondered what it would be like to eat off those abs."

"Excuse me!? I would never say something like that!"

"Just because you wouldn't say doesn't mean it doesn't come out of your mouth anyway." Oliver countered with an evil grin.

"Listen, just because I don't always control what I say-"

"You meant can't control." Oliver interrupted.

"Gah! Just because I  _can't_ control what I say doesn't mean that there aren't some things that don't actually manage to stay hidden in there."

"I know there are things that stay hidden in there, Felicity." Oliver replied, suddenly serious as his thoughts turned to Slade Wilson.

"Like what?"

The look on her face was almost entirely unreadable. Her face was so gentle and so pure it almost made Oliver want to cry. She had been through so much, endured so much.

And almost all of it was due to him. He knew only limited amounts of her life before Queen Consolidated but he knew that her family life wasn't ideal. Her father had abandoned her and her mother at a very young age and Oliver suspected that her mother was either out of her life entirely or deceased as Oliver had never heard her mention her.

But even then, she had been shot, captured, tortured, forced to watch him nearly die three separate times and about three dozen other things that alone would make someone go nuts.

So gentle, so pure and yet so strong. That was Felicity Smoak in a nutshell.

"Like what, Oliver?" Felicity repeated as Oliver thought to himself.

"Nevermind." Oliver answer, trying to avoid the subjects that would surely be brought up if this conversation continued.

"Not nevermind." Felicity said as she stepped around his desk before sitting on the desk in front of him. "Talk to me."

Oliver paused for a second. Didn't she realize that was all he wanted? All he wanted in life was to be able to talk to Felicity Smoak? To tell her just how much she meant to him? But he couldn't. Felicity needed to stay alive and to stay alive meant a life away from Oliver. Eventually, Oliver knew that she would leave Starling again and when she did, Oliver would let her go, knowing that she would have survived simply being his friend.

He could never imagine that the target he would paint on her back if they ever were more than that.

"About what?" Oliver replied innocently.

"Don't you do that to me, Oliver Queen!" Felicity scolded. "You can do that to everyone else. You can do it to Thea or Roy or even Diggle but you can't hide from me."

"What is there to hide? I can't hide anything from you, Felicity. That's part of the problem. You seem to know every thought that I have."

"Well, for once, I'm stumped so enlighten me."

For just a moment, Oliver considered lying to her. However, Oliver knew that she would see straight through that. So, he opted for the truth, as terrifying as it was.

"Why did you leave?" Oliver asked, his gaze targeted for the very center of her eyes.

"Oliver..."

"Please," Oliver begged. "You've gotten me this far. You've gotten me to talk. You know how hard it is for me to talk sometimes. Well, I'm talking. Please don't shut me down here."

"It's not as simple as one answer." Felicity answered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Do what you can."

"OK." Felicity replied. Quickly, she hopped up from the desk and circled back around to the other side before pacing slowly back and forth in front of his desk. "It started a few weeks before Slade kidnapped me. I saw you and Sara together and I realized how close I had gotten to you. I dealt with it in my own way. I retreated, I got quiet but as the weeks passed, it was always there, some kind of pounding in my chest."

Felicity stopped her pacing and stared right at him, her eyes looking at him with an emotion that he couldn't describe. All he knew is that as their eyes locked, his fingertips burned with feeling, as if his body couldn't contain all the energy that single look was creating in him.

"Then, Slade went after Diggle. When we visited Diggle in the hospital, I played back that night in my head. Part of the reason that Diggle ended up in the hospital was because he was trying to protect me while Slade was attacking him. If I hadn't been there, Diggle may have stood a better chance. Instead, Diggle nearly died because of the beating Slade gave him."

"Felicity, you can't think like that." Oliver said softly.

"I couldn't help it! For awhile, I had been the one that could defend herself. There's you, Dig, Sara, Roy: all of you can keep yourselves safe. Me? You better hope the attacker is a dwarf or I'm screwed."

That comment elicited a small chuckle from Oliver while Felicity continued.

"Then, Slade kidnapped me."

"You know that I-"

"Stop." Felicity order softly. "Just listen, please. When Slade kidnapped me, he started in on me. For the first few days, I was able to ignore him. I would just wander off inside my own head to stay away from him. But, as insane as he was, he was also insanely intelligent. He knew which buttons to push and he pushed them until I couldn't handle it anymore."

"What did he say?" Oliver asked, almost afraid to know.

"He said that he knew that you loved me. That's why he chose me, Oliver." Felicity said, tears forming in earnest. "He chose me because he knew how much you cared for me. He even said he knew it more than you did. He told me that when you figured it out, and he knew you would, you would do everything you could to stop him or more importantly, save me."

"He was right."

All Oliver could think of was Slade's instructions: come alone, come completely unarmed and set yourself in the middle of Verdant, hands behind your back and legs crossed. Do that and you get Felicity back.

Oliver had complied at once. For all of Slade's machinations, his scheme was really quite simple. Over the period of several months, Slade broke him, slowly and excruciatingly painfully. Finally, at the very end of his scheme, he had convinced Laurel that Oliver wasn't to be trusted, even if she wouldn't believe that he was The Arrow. She had left to be an Assistant District Attorney in Coast City.

Thea had left Starling City for eight months. Finally, she showed a wisdom beyond her years when she returned to Starling and let Oliver apologize for lying to her after his return from the island.

Roy had nearly given up on Oliver. It had taken a beating from Slade Wilson to prove to Roy just how dangerous Oliver had been. Since then, Roy and Oliver's relationship had been mostly business, despite the fact that he and Thea were going to get married someday.

Diggle and Sara had fought with Oliver repeatedly over his reluctance to kill Slade. Even though Oliver knew it needed to be done, he couldn't imagine that he was going to be forced to kill the man who had saved his life and given him the ability to save his city.

Through all of Slade Wilson's planning, Felicity Smoak was the only person that never lost faith in him. Never once did she question his methodology and while she may have disagreed with him at times, she never lost faith in him.

Then, at the very end, Slade took that faith and broke it.

"He was." Felicity admitted. "When you showed up at Verdant, I knew that he had been right. I knew that you loved me and that I loved you. I also knew that if I survived that night, I was leaving Starling City."

"Why?" Oliver asked, although he suspected the answer.

"Because I couldn't let your love for me destroy you." Felicity answered, almost sobbing at this point. "You had so much pain in your life already. Your father killing himself in front of you, your years on the island, Tommy's death, Moira's deceit. After all of that, I couldn't bare to add to it. Plus, I rather arrogantly figured that my death would break you and I feared what you would become when you broke."

"You were right." Oliver agreed with a sad smile. "You were also my hope. You were the one of us that was normal. You seemed to keep as much of a normal life as possible. You worried about bills, about work and about the small things in life that I had forgotten years ago. If I had lost that, if I had seen that light extinguished, I probably would have fallen off the deep end."

"I know. So, I left. I thought about calling you, about leaving a note or sending an email. In the end, I decided that as much as it would hurt you, I needed to save you from yourself."

Felicity, as always, was simply doing what she did best: protect Oliver. He had known from the moment she had left that something had happened with Slade. She had been in harms way before and had not left him. But this time had obviously been different.

This time, she did leave.

"Well, how about this time you save me from myself here in Starling?" Oliver said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I wasn't returning to the ArrowCave." Felicity warned him. "I can't be that again."

"Maybe you can't, but you can still be here for me. So that I have someone to fall back on when I get in my own head."

For a second, Felicity considered Oliver's request.

"I don't know that I can consistently be that person, Oliver. You mean too much to me and I think you care about me too much to jeopardize each other's lives like that again. I'll be your friend, Oliver, but that's it."

Of all the things that Oliver had expected her to say, that had not been it. Where was the fearless, relentlessly optimistic Felicity Smoak? It was then that Oliver realized that being kidnapped by a super soldier probably had a way of sapping your optimism.

Slowly, Felicity stood and walked towards the glass doors on the far side of the room. Before she reached them, she turned back to Oliver, a look of regret and conflict on her face.

"In case you're wondering, that version of me that you fell in love with, it's still in there somewhere." Felicity said, basically reading his mind. "Unfortunately, it's been covered by a different version."

"Which version?"

"One more similar to you." Felicity answered sadly before walking out the door.

As he watched her leave, he leaned back in his chair to contemplate what they had just said to each other. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. The TV, which had been on the whole time but he had been able to ignore it, was firing out the headlines for this evening news, complete with one surprising anchor story.

_"Within the last hour, Helena Bertinelli, aka The Huntress, has escaped from her cell at The Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is a UN-sanctioned supermax prison for criminals of an extreme variety. The Huntress is best known for the pursuit of her father, Frank Bertinelli, a widely known Starling City mob boss, and for her repeated conflicts with The Green Arrow. After escaping from Iron Heights Penitentiary in Starling City and before her imprisonment in The Labyrinth, Bertinelli started a career as a part-time assassin. It is believed that she has escaped from The Labyrinth to accept a potential contract on the life of Gotham City billionaire Bruce Wayne. Wayne is famous for recently inciting the rage of the Maroni Crime Family..."_

The rest of the story was unimportant. Instantly, Oliver called up the rest of Team Arrow.

"ArrowCave, now."

* * *

"Just what we needed, Queen of the Crazy People on the loose again." Roy muttered softly to himself as he sat down.

The four permanent members of Team Arrow sat in the recreational area of the ArrowCave. Over the past two years, with Oliver spending an exorbitant amount of time in the ArrowCave, it was decided that a more comfortable place was needed to watch their briefings and news broadcasts. So, Oliver had spent a ridiculous amount of money to convert one of the far corners of the Cave to a recreational area, complete with several couches and big screen TVs. It was there that Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow watched the coverage of Helena's escape.

"This does seem to be exceedingly poor timing with Tommy's return." Diggle replied.

"Maybe it's not coincidence." Sara answered. "Someone with the League backing him could very well have the ability to break someone like Helena out of a cell in the Labyrinth."

"Except there's been no reports of an accomplices." Oliver countered.

"That we know of." Sara replied before pulling out her laptop and tablet. Quietly, she began running hacks of the United Nations and World Security Council, both locations that could potentially have the security footage from the Labyrinth.

"So who do we focus our attention on?" Roy asked. "I know that we don't know about Helena's motives but if she really is going after Wayne..."

"Then he can take care of himself." Oliver growled, thinking of the unpleasant man from Gotham. "Our primary goal, as it always should be, is the protection of Starling City."

"And Tommy." Diggle added. "Despite the fact that he's getting rid of bad people, he's going to eventually tip public favor away from The Green Arrow. If and when that happens, it will be just like the beginning again. Instead of getting help from the police, they'll be chasing after us."

"Minus Lance, of course." Roy replied, looking at Sara. "Your dad still has no idea who we are?"

"Laurel didn't tell him and neither did I." Sara said softly. "I really believe him when he says that he doesn't care about who's behind the mask."

"Quentin will help us as he's done for awhile now. What we need to focus on is how to stop Tommy."

For several minutes, the group of them sat, watching the coverage of Helena Bertinelli's escape from the most secure prison on the planet. While the others may have really been focusing on that, all Oliver could think about was his friend. Helena had been a very brief foray, Tommy had been with him since they were four.

"What if we gave him a target?"

Everyone looked at Roy as he spoke, breaking the silence. Roy rarely was one for the planning of attacks. While he was still very good at executing them with minimal traces of the Mirakuru in his system, Roy had never had much interest in the formation of plans. He very rarely attended meeting of Team Arrow with his college classes taking precedence so for Roy to actually suggest something was exceedingly rare.

"What kind of target?" Diggle questioned.

"One from the List, obviously." Roy commented. "We have the entire list of Tempest members. But we only know one personally."

"Isabel." Oliver stated.

"Exactly. We own her after we got her to realize how insane Slade was."

"She's still an insufferable bitch." Sara muttered.

"Yes, but that's her business persona. Always has, always will be." Oliver countered. "After my conversation with Isabel yesterday, we're on the same page. She has known about The Green Arrow for some time and I've known about her affiliation with Slade. Thankfully, I was able to convince her out of helping that psychopath or I may have lost QC to Wilson permanently."

"So what do we do with her?" Diggle asked.

"First, I talk to her about Tempest again. With any luck, she personally helped Merlyn with The Undertaking. If that's the case, we put her out in a very public place with a hell of a lot of publicity and wait for Tommy to strike."

"You don't think that Tommy will suspect that?"

"He may." Oliver admitted. "However, he doesn't know that I know about the List. At the very least, he doesn't know that I still have a copy of The List. Also, even if he does, he would never think that I would put someone out there to be killed just to draw him out."

"He doesn't know how much we hate her." Sara grumbled.

"Sara." Oliver warned harshly. "We've had our differences with Isabel, both past and present, but she made the right choice in the end."

"Yeah, after she tried to bankrupt you and steal your company." Diggle shot back.

"Fair enough." Oliver replied with a smile. "Alright, I'll go to Isabel and we'll work something out."

* * *

The next evening, Oliver watched as Isabel Rochev took the podium he had just vacated from the back of the main ballroom in Queen Tower. Moments earlier, Oliver had announced that Isabel Rochev was stepping down as the Chairperson of the QC Board and was accepting a position as the President of Queen Consolidated: Gotham, a newly formed (as in just hours earlier) sister corporation formed of all of Queen Consolidated's assets in Gotham. With a need to put Isabel in the spotlight and a need for leadership in Gotham, Oliver found the perfect compromise between work and  _other_ work.

"Everyone have eyes on?" Oliver asked into his earpiece which was equipped with a hyper-sensitive microphone. With his position as CEO of Queen Consolidated, he need to be present from the start to finish of this particular event. Due to that, every other member of Team Arrow was positioned in locations where they could see into the ballroom through its massive windows.

_"Arsenal, eyes on."_

_"Canary, eyes on."_ Sara added.

_"Hood, eyes on target."_ Diggle replied, using his rarely used call sign. For this particular mission, Oliver had placed all hands on deck, which was why...

_"Speedy, and yes, I do see the bitch."_ was the next voice to ring out over the comm.

"Thea..." Oliver said warningly, although a smile did creep onto his face.

_"Can't say that I disagree with her there."_ Roy replied.  _"Anyway, we're all here so what are we waiting for?"_

"We wait until Isabel is done with her speech. When she's done, she will follow a path of large windows and unguarded elevators to her office where she will get to work cleaning out her office. Hood, you're her trail the whole time. Speedy, you keep eyes on until she's in that elevator. Arsenal and Canary, you are in charge of hauling ass up to a vantage point where her office can be seen, complete 360 degree coverage."

"What will you be doing?"

"The second she leaves the room, I'm accessing my personal elevator where my own attire is waiting. I'll be changed by the time it hits her floor. Then, I'll wait in a darker and more visual concealed portion of her floor until I get confirmation that Tommy is attacking."

"And what makes you think that he will be attacking?" Thea asked as she drifted near Oliver, talking towards him so that the content of her question wouldn't be a concern to the rest of the announcement's attendees.

"Tommy always was a risk taker." Oliver replied, meeting his sister's eyes. "With his new abilities and a little bit of what makes Roy so deadly floating around in his system, I'm certain that he's confident enough to take Isabel down even though he knows it will be a trap."

_"Is he wrong?"_ Diggle asked.

"I'm not sure." Oliver admitted as Isabel finished her speech. "He's proven himself to be skilled and impossible to track. We'll just have to see."

As Oliver finished speaking, a roar of applause rose in the room as Isabel smiled and took a short bow to the crowd. Obviously, she had said something good so Oliver and Thea dutifully clapped while slowly making their way to their points. As they started moving, Isabel looked out into the crowd and caught Oliver's eye, who nodded subtly.

With a worried look on her face, she quickly shook a few hands around her before pointedly making her way out of the room. As she did that, Thea broke away from Oliver.

"Constant communication." Oliver barked softly. "I want to know everything that's going on."

_"Got it."_ Thea whispered back.

Within seconds, Oliver was inside his elevator to which he, and he only, had a passcode. After punching that code in, the elevator quickly began its crawl to the top of the building. As that happened, Oliver quickly began to remove his suit to replace with one with just a bit more leather.

_"The Queen is in the elevator."_ Thea said firmly.  _"By the way, why did we give her that code name? She did fuck Dad when she was younger."_

"That's the joke." Oliver whispered. "As much as she wanted to be one of us, this is the only way she got it."

_"OH, that's just cold."_ Diggle said mockingly.  _"Elevator at the 24th floor. Arrow, where are you?"_

"36." Oliver replied as he pulled the final part of his dress suit off, standing alone in the elevator in just his compression shorts and socks. Quickly, Oliver pulled a bag out of a hidden compartment in the elevator where his entire Green Arrow uniform rested. As fast as he could, Oliver changed into the leather suit.

Within seconds, the elevator dinged, announcing his arrival to the 76th Floor. Oliver just finished placing his mask over his eyes before pulling his hood up and stepping out of the elevator, bow and quiver in tow.

"Update." Oliver ordered.

_"Her elevator just reached 76."_ Roy said confidently.  _"Arsenal in position."_

_"Canary in place as well."_ Sara echoed.

"Good. Moving towards her end of the floor."

_"Hood, accessing roof to continue pursuit."_

"Negative." Oliver ordered, uncertain as to why Diggle would enter the building. "I don't need you in here."

_"I know you probably don't think you need me in here but if Tommy is even close to as good as his dad once was PLUS a little Mirakuru induced madness, then you'll need me."_

"Fair enough." Oliver mused as he marched confidently.

Quickly and quietly, Oliver moved, hardly making a sound. After making his way through several security doors that required a passcode, Oliver finally made it to Isabel's office.

"Everyone ready?" Oliver whispered.

_"Ready."_ came a unified response on the comms.

For several minutes, Oliver sat just outside Isabel's office, watching as she mechanically went about cleaning out her office. Suddenly, she spoke.

"I'm sorry, Oliver." she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Isabel?" Oliver replied, moving to stand in the guarded entrance to her office. He still didn't want anyone to know that he was in the building so he blocked himself from any looking from the outside of the building.

"I had to." Isabel whispered fearfully, turning around to face him.

"Had to do what?"

"I was the one that led the sabotage of the Queen's Gambit." Isabel replied, speaking incredibly fast. "I was so angry at your father for leaving me that I initiated the plan to kill you and your father on your trip. Merlyn just made it happen."

"I knew that already." Oliver replied softly. "I knew from the moment you told me about you and my father."

"But then, I was also in charge of the mercenaries on the island."

"What?"

"Edward Fyers worked for me." Isabel replied. "Unfortunately, by the time that Fyers actually reported that you were on the island, you managed to kill him."

"Yeah, that was really unfortunate." Oliver mused. "What's the point of telling me this, Isabel?"

"Once you're in with Tempest, there's no getting back out." Isabel replied. "Tommy Merlyn knew that."

"Excuse me?"

"Merlyn knew that I had been working with Tempest. He also knew that my adopted parents still live in the city."

"I thought you said that your adopted parents were dead."

"I was trying to get you to sympathize with me. So, I lied, created the death of my parents. Merlyn knew better. I may be cold, I may hate you and everything your family stands for but I do love my parents. They brought me out of that Russian hellhole I lived in and gave me a good life. I became something they wouldn't have been proud of and they shouldn't have to pay for that."

"He threatened them?"

"Yes." Isabel said tearfully. "Unless I went along with his plan."

"Which is?"

"Your plan."

Suddenly, Oliver had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What do you mean?"

"Merlyn knew that you were planning on using me as bait. He knew that you were trying to draw him out, trying to get him to face you. So, to save the only good part left in my life, I was to be the bait."

"Why?"

"So that I could be punished for my role in The Undertaking in front of you."

_"Oliver, we have a problem."_

"Not now, Diggle."

"You don't hate me." Isabel whispered softly. "I did everything I could to destroy your family and your city and yet you kept me alive. Even kept me employed. I appreciate that, I really do but you're not my family."

"I understand." Oliver replied, truly understanding. As he did, he pulled an arrow out of his quiver and nocked it. "You didn't have to do this at all."

_"Oliver!"_

"Diggle, not now!" Oliver shouted this time.

"No, I really did."

**_"Oliver!"_ **

This time, Oliver could hear Diggle's problem. If he had paid attention, he probably would have seen it first and been prepared for it. At first, it sounded like the hardest rain you had ever heard. But then, the sound began to build. That sound came from the fire of at least one, probably two, giant automatic weapons coming from the building just across the street.

As Oliver heard the fire, his eyes rotated back to Isabel, who seemed to float for a second before bullets rocked her body, throwing her backwards. Moving as quickly as he could, Oliver dove back behind the stone column he had been hiding behind.

Unfortunately, he did not quite move fast enough. As he dove, one bullet drove deep into his left thigh, burning as it tore through his flesh. Another lodged itself his right forearm and a final shot grazed him in the hip.

For what seemed like hours, Oliver hid behind that column, blood flowing freely, as the sound of automatic gunfire thundered around him. Suddenly, Oliver heard something that he couldn't make out coming from his earpiece. Seconds later, the gunfire stopped.

_"Oliver, I just saw Merlyn but he got away."_ Diggle shouted, obviously out of breath.

"You're sure it was him?" Oliver grunted, struggling not to pass out.

_"Positive."_

_"We got something else, though."_

"What?"

_"Helena Bertinelli knocked out next to a minigun."_

"Take her to the Foundry." Oliver bellowed. "And if someone could come and get me, that would be great."

Slowly, Oliver forced his body into action, crawling across the floor towards Isabel. As he got to her, he saw that her body was ripped with more bullet holes than he could count in the time that he had. He checked for a pulse, knowing that he would find none.

"The Queen is dead." Oliver muttered weakly.

_"You hit?"_ Sara asked.

"Uh huh." was all Oliver could get out of before the loss of blood hit him like an anvil, forcing him to pass out where he sat.

* * *

The light that Oliver could see caused his head to pound.

"He's waking up." Roy shouted, causing a pain to ripple through Oliver's head.

"Shhhhh." Oliver managed to get out as his eyes open to see him staring up at the Foundry's ceiling.

"Sorry." Roy whispered, which was almost as grating.

"It's fine." Oliver muttered as he sat up, gently swinging his legs over the side of the table. Over the years as The Green Arrow, Oliver's tolerance for pain had grown to the point that he barely felt the pain.

Not that his body knew that. In fact, the second Oliver sat up, his body did its very best to force him back down on the table with only Oliver's stubbornness keeping him upright.

"How bad was I?" Oliver asked no one in particular.

"Not that bad really." Sara said shortly. "Three hits: one in the thigh, one in the arm and a graze at the hip. The one in the arm stuck but the one in your thigh went clean through and missed basically everything important. The one in your arm missed important stuff but got stuck in there. It was a piece of cake to take out, though."

"Good." Oliver replied weakly.

"Yes, because it means that you'll be up for talking with her." Diggle countered, his eyes trailing to the corner of the room.

Tied, strapped, bound and gagged to a chair, which was bolted to the floor, was a very pissed off looking Helena Bertinelli. Not that Oliver was very happy right now either. In fact, upon seeing her, Oliver nearly exploded with rage. As quickly as he could without hurting himself, Oliver stood up and staggered towards his assassin ex-girlfriend.

Grabbing Felicity's computer chair, Oliver dragged it behind him until he reached Helena. Flipping the chair around him, he sat in it, leaning towards Helena despite the pain the position put him.

"Now, here's how this works: I take the gag off, you tell me everything about Merlyn, then I send you back to The Labyrinth where you spend the rest of your life."

Leaning further forward, Oliver united the fabric gag around Helena's mouth, letting it fall to the ground.

"Hey, honey." Helena said sweetly although Oliver could hear the mocking in her tone.

"Knock it off, Helena. I'm not joking. Why work with Merlyn?"

"He was cuter than you." Helena replied, feigning an honest answer. Internally, Oliver could feel his patience already starting to wear.

"Doubtful." Oliver answered, doing his best to match her. "Now, why work with him?"

"Well, he did break me out of jail. Something that you never did." Helena shot back, venom suddenly dripping from her voice.

"And that's exactly as I wanted it." Oliver smirked before leaning back in his chair. "I'm amazed you couldn't get out of there yourself."

"Even you couldn't get out of there."

"We'll agree to disagree there. Now, what is Tommy's plan?"

"You think that he shares that kind of information with me?" Helena mocked. "I was told that we were going to go and light you up. I wanted every opportunity I could after you  _put me in that hellhole."_

"I put you in that hellhole because you tried to kill my sister." Oliver replied shortly. "Did you really think I was going to be begging to get you out of there after that?"

"I tried to kill your sister to get your attention, Ollie. I wanted you to fight me, to kill me. With Michael and my stupid father gone, I was all that was left in my world, especially after you stopped visiting me."

"I stopped visiting you because you killed six guards in your first attempt to escape Iron Heights!" Oliver retorted harshly. "Plus, it's not exactly a good PR move for the struggling CEO of a Fortune 500 company to visit his homicidal ex-girlfriend in jail."

"You came to see me after Dad died..."

For a second, Oliver saw the frightened and broken young woman that he had met when he had met with her father the first time. Unfortunately, Oliver had spent too time in this world to simply forgive her for what she had done. For what she had done to herself mostly.

"I came to see you before you went to prison because I wanted to see what was left of you. If the version of Helena that I had loved was actually in there."

"And?" Helena questioned softly.

"She was definitely in there." Oliver said softly as he sat in front of her. "But I think you've buried her. She's dead and gone now and once that happened, I had no desire to see you again."

"That's too bad." Helena whispered. Oliver was certain that she was talking to herself.

For a couple minutes, Oliver let her sit in silence, giving her as much of a reprieve as he could before continuing his questioning.

"You know who Tommy is working for, don't you?"

Suddenly, the look on Helena's face changed. Gone as the sadness or the rage, replaced by a look of fear. All Oliver got in response was a slow nod.

"Ra's al Ghul is a criminal mastermind like the world has never seen." Oliver warned menacingly. "If he has sent Tommy to Starling, that means trouble, Helena. I know that you have your issues, most of them having to do with me and your father but I don't believe you would willingly submit an entire city, or worse, to the likes of Ra's al Ghul."

"No, no I wouldn't." Helena said sadly.

"Then what do you know?"

"Nothing, nothing important anyway. I know that he's been back to visit The Merlyn Estate but I don't know if he's using it as a base or not."

"Anything else?" Diggle asked suddenly. "Has he been in contact with anyone for The League? Anyone from Tempest?"

"The only person he contacted while I was in his employ was a woman but I never got her name. He used a codename: Demon Child."

The use of that particular name instantly caused Oliver's ears to perk up.

"Demon Child?" Oliver asked as he turned to match eyes with Sara. "You're certain?"

"Absolutely."

"And you wouldn't be lying to us, would you?" Oliver replied as his head whipped back around to face Helena.

"Why would I?" Helena said, challenging him fiercely. "I want you dead for what you've done and I wanted my father dead for what he did but I'm no mass murderer. I know I'm not going to have the opportunity to stop him anymore so any help I can give you will be given."

"Thanks." Oliver said shortly.

Before reaching forward and striking her directly in the head with a well placed fist, knocking her unconscious. Quickly, Oliver turned back to Sara.

"Is Nyssa the only person that nickname could apply to?"

"She has another sister, Talia, but I think she bailed on the League before even I got there. Fell in love with some American and ditched the League for him. She came back to the League a few times but she doesn't stay. It's only her relation to Ra's that keeps her alive."

"Is it possible that she has returned or is this definitely Nyssa?"

"With The League, either is a distinct possibility, although I would put my safe money on Nyssa."

For several seconds, Oliver simply sat and thought to himself. The recent reveal that Tommy was alive was nothing compared to what he feared would happen. More than likely, Tommy was sent back to remove Tempest members as he said, but for a different reason. It seemed logical that The League of Assassins was preparing to come and take over Starling City, whether it be via conventional attack or, more than likely, some kind of unseen machinations. If so, removing Tempest members who may have even had a glimmer of an idea about The League, those who were closest to Merlyn, was a smart move before moving into the city.

Finally, Oliver had formulated a plan. Now, he needed to move it into action.

"Diggle, take Helena to Quentin's office. He'll know who she is and what to do with her."

"Got it." Diggle said as he moved to start his task.

"Sara, I want you to locate Talia al Ghul. We need to know if we're dealing with someone we know or some other variable."

"Can do."

"Roy, go pick up Thea and Felicity and bring them to Queen Mansion. We'll operate out of the bunker there for the time being. I'm going to pack up as much of the gear here as we can so that we have to make as few trips into the city as possible."

"Oliver, what's wrong?" Sara asked softly, placing a hand on his arm gently.

"I think we need to start preparing for an invasion."

"From who?"

"Ra's al Ghul."


	6. V: Luthor

For nearly a week after their run-in with Helena Bertinelli, Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow, Felicity included, had been working on transforming Queen Mansion into Fort Queen. With every person that lived in Queen Mansion part of The Green Arrow's night time activity in some way and with Oliver's overwhelming desire to protect his family, the decision was made to secure Queen Mansion.

With Felicity's leadership, the entire mansion's security system was bolstered with remote locks inside every window and door. Plus, as Oliver's own way to honor his father, a command center of sorts had been established in Robert's old office for Team Arrow to keep tabs on Starling City.

"Why the hell didn't we do this sooner?" Sara asked as they put the finishing touches on the Arrow Command Center.

"Probably because, as CEO of a Fortune 500 company, I'm expected to have a few social gatherings a year at my family's house." Oliver replied shortly with a smirk. "However, I'm certain that we can hide most of this stuff when that does happen."

"Long term, we could probably build hidden compartments into the walls here to hide our gear. Other than that, the rest of it is just computer equipment. I'm certain that Felicity could mask just what these computers are doing so that if someone would happen to walk in here, and it should be locked tight, all they see are nice computers looking at QC files."

"John, I could do that quicker than Barry could get here."

"Now that's fast." Roy replied as he too took a seat.

Just outside of their office, Diggle and Roy had set up an area where they could "monitor the news," although Oliver could have sworn he heard Diggle saying something about baseball. The area to "monitor the news" included several couches and recliners in the middle of the room and eight large flat-screen TVs on the one wall. Oliver already appreciated what the room could be simply for Team morale. He knew that he hadn't been great about actually enjoying his time with his teammates. Others would say that their mission was too important to waste time "improving morale."

But Oliver knew better. He knew that they needed to have complete trust in one another and the only way to do that was to spend time together, as a Team, without worrying about going on patrols or who was trying to kill them.

In fact, some time like that would be good for them now.

"Sit down." Oliver said softly as he took one of the large recliners and turned the largest, center TV to Channel 52 News.

Hearing Oliver, the rest of the team came and joined him, either in their own recliner or on one of the large couches in the room.

"This is nice." Sara said as she collapsed into a chair across the room. "I can't believe it's taken us a week to finally be able to sit down."

"Yeah and hopefully we'll be able to get out of here soon." Roy replied.

"Speak for yourselves." Thea uttered shortly. "I live here. Permanently. You guys just transformed my house into a well-equipped prison."

"I prefer the term fortress." Felicity smiled. "It's more  _protective."_

"Protective or not, we've been trapped in my own house for a week. At least when Oliver finally decides it's safe for us to leave, you have something to do. I just get to go back to managing Verdant."

"Which you do very well." Oliver said with a grin. "Either way, once we know which of the al Ghul sisters we are dealing with, we'll be able to address our situation a little better."

"Oh we may want to leave a bit quicker than that." Felicity replied as she pointed to the TV.

If Oliver had thought that a week hidden away inside his old house was a terribly depressing way to spend a week, the information that he saw on TV simply capped it off, making it a terrible, terrible week.

In massive letters on the TV were the words:  _ **BRUCE WAYNE COMES TO STARLING**_ ** _  
_**

"Turn on the sound." Oliver ordered with Felicity complying seconds later.

_"...intends to meet with Lex Luthor, CEO and majority owner of LexCorps. LexCorps intends to open a branch of operations in both Starling and Gotham City. No one is entirely sure why the two are meeting but speculation is that the pair will attempt a cooperative takeover of Queen Consolidated. Wayne and Queen have reportedly been at odds since Queen hired Felicity Smoak, QC's new Technological Director of Governmental Affairs. Smoak had previously worked for Queen as his executive assistant before leaving to take a position as Director of Computer Design and Research at WayneTech. There were rumors that Wayne and Queen argued during a meeting in Gotham City. Representatives from all sides have declined to comment."_

"Of course, this is the week I tell the Board I'm going on vacation." Oliver sighed before pulling out his cell phone, quickly dialing one of his assistants. "Emily, it's Oliver. Tell the Board I would like a meeting in two hours."

 _"Absolutely, Mr. Queen."_ Emily Ramsey, one of his three assistants replied.  _"They are going to ask me who you intend to replace Ms. Rochev with. Do you have an answer?"_

"Yes, I'm naming my sister Chairman of the Board." Oliver answered before hanging up.

"WHAT?" Thea shouted at Oliver.

"Thea, look at me." Oliver replied calmly. "Rochev is dead. I need someone I can trust to work with the Board. Yes, they're going to look at you funny. Not as much as they're going to look at me funny, but they're going to give you bad looks. They're going to talk down to you. It will be difficult. However, with The League coming-"

"You think." Felicity reminded him...again.

"Yes, thank you, Felicity." Oliver said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, with The League coming, I need my focus to be there. So, you will be my representative for the time being with the Board."

As angry as she was, Oliver could see that she was thinking it over. Finally, she rolled her eyes and smiled back at her older brother.

"Fine." she said shortly. "What's the cover?"

"You have small business experience. We both know my propensity for disappearing at times and you would be ideal to replace me in those times." Oliver answered before he had a sudden epiphany. "In fact, I believe that I have just figured out a way to secretly ensure that we can keep QC."

"How?" Felicity questioned curiously.

"We take the trust that Dad left for Thea and use all of it to purchase QC shares. Once we do that, we then consolidate our shares into a single trust and we name ourselves the controls, each with a 50% stake. With that, the pair of us should be able to control almost 80% of QC shares. Now, LexCorps and WayneTech will buy out a lot of that but we should be able to weather the storm and maintain majority control of the company."

"That  _should_ work." Felicity answered. "When did you learn so much about finance?"

"As much of a pain in the ass as she could be, Isabel Rochev did provide several good books on business and finance." Oliver replied before turning back to Thea. "You have to come with me to QC. The rest of you stay here and help Sara look for Talia."

"Of course." Diggle replied.

With that, Oliver and Thea stood and gathered their things. Within only a few minutes, the pair of them were inside one of Oliver's many vehicles, headed towards Starling with the intent to save their family's legacy.

* * *

After a rather uneventful meeting of the Board where Oliver outlined his plan to keep control of his family's company, Oliver and Thea sat patiently inside his office. Once it was learned that Thea Queen was being named Chairman of the Board at Queen Consolidated, every reporter in town wanted to get in touch with them. To that end, Oliver decided the only way to end the constant barrage of phone calls and emails was to schedule a press conference.

However, Oliver didn't want to just announce Thea's new position. He had other plans to put LexCorps and WayneTech back on defense.

"Do we have anything we can announce?" Oliver asked Felicity over speaker phone.

 _"Not particularly."_ Felicity replied shortly. The strain in Felicity's voice was obvious. She had only had her job for a few weeks but already she felt the pressure to come up with that splash announcement she had planned when she postponed her trip back to Gotham.

"Great. Is there anything that is most of the way there?"

_"My department has a new sonic weapon. It produces a harmonic frequency that can be adjusted to the proper harmonic for any known substances and, with only a few exceptions, once that perfect harmonic is found, it will cause the molecules inside that substance to become unstable. We can use that to either cause it to explode or to disassemble itself."_

"Sounds perfect." Oliver replied shortly. "Why can't we announce it yet?"

_"We haven't gotten approval from DOD to begin field tests."_

"Give them a call." Oliver ordered. "In one hour, I want a call back saying that we're allowed to announce it today."

_"I'll do my best."_

"I'm sure you will." Oliver said before hanging up.

For a second, Oliver thought that he was going to get a couple moments of silence. Unfortunately for him, his sister had other plans.

"Who is Ra's al Ghul?" Thea asked softly.

In the years since Thea found out about Oliver's secret, they had agreed on a moral truce of sorts: Oliver would never lie to here but he would frequently refuse to tell her anything to avoid her knowing about more than she needed to. While Oliver was certain that Roy was telling her more than he was, that was certainly fine with him. He still regretted Speedy finding out at all so the less he could involve her, the better, at least in his opinion.

Not that she let herself be kept out of the loop.

"You don't want to know, Speedy." Oliver replied shortly, his eyes still closed as he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh but I do." Thea replied with a grin, knowing that Oliver would tell her if she pressed him. So, he did.

"You've heard us mention The League of Assassins." Oliver started with Thea nodding her head in confirmation. "Well, The League of Assassins is run by Ra's al Ghul. Now, the rumors about Ra's al Ghul scatter from the mundane to the extraordinary. Some say that he is immortal, others say that he isn't one man at all but the name is simply a title given to the leader of The League of Assassins. Personally, I think it's somewhere in the middle. We suspect that the Mirakuru, the serum that runs through Roy's blood, was actually either discovered or created by The League."

"So you think that it has some sort of effect on a person's lifespan?" Thea questioned.

"That's the line of thinking that we're going with until we find something else out."

"Well, wha-"

Whatever Thea was going to ask was interrupted by a phone call from Felicity. Quickly, Oliver answered the call and put her on speaker.

_"We've got the contract and testing. I've planned testing for tomorrow. If all goes well, and it will, it mean a 11.3 billion dollar contract with the DOD for a range of weapons with this technology."_

"Good work, Ms. Smoak." Thea commented.

"Absolutely." Oliver replied before standing up, adjusting his tie as he did. Once he was up, he dialed the number of Anderson Shepard. "Anderson, let the press into the conference room. In 30 minutes, I'll be making a statement to the press."

"You always did enjoy talking to the public."

Now, if Felicity Smoak's return to Starling City had been a surprise, the return of the eldest Lance sister was a complete shock. But as Oliver looked up from the work on his desk, it most certainly was Laurel Lance, Coast City District Attorney, standing in his doorway.

"I'll see you downstairs." Thea replied with a nervous smile as she walked out of the room.

* * *

For a few seconds, Oliver just stared. He had no clue why Laurel was back, and especially no idea why she was standing in his office, but it was either very good or very bad.

"Laurel." Oliver eventually choked out.

"Oliver." Laurel replied as she marched towards him, stopping inches away from his face.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Oliver asked nervously.

"Trust me, this is no pleasure." Laurel answered as she sat down in front of Oliver's desk. "But, I had no one else to turn to."

"What is it?"

Several beats passed before Laurel even bothered to look at him, let alone answer. When she did, Oliver could see that something definitely wasn't right.

"I need your help." she uttered softly, looking at the floor. "How closely do you follow Coast City news?"

"I don't."

"Pretty much what I figured." Laurel said with a dark laugh. "Anyway, there was this case. A notorious mob boss gets arrested at the scene of a quadruple homicide. The gun used to kill the four people belonged to him. The location belonged to him. His fingerprints were on the gun, although it was argued that could have happened at any time."

"Which is true."

"It is." Laurel admitted. "So, I order my ADAs to throw the book at him. Maximum life sentences for each murder. However, when we go to trial, one of my ADAs makes a mistake that not even a first year law student would make. This lawyer wouldn't make this mistake either. She was one of my best. This mistake, I'm not going to bother to explain it, just trust me. Anyway, this mistake gives reasonable doubt."

"And the jury bites." Oliver says, finishing her story.

"Absolutely." Laurel remarks bitterly. "He gets a minimum deal of eighteen months for violation of probation orders by owning a gun."

"Why is this your problem?"

"Because six weeks later, my reckless ADA resigns. She says that she can't handle being a lawyer anymore."

"You make a mistake like that-"

"Remember how I said I didn't think it was a mistake." Laurel interrupted. "Well, I was able to convince a judge that I was right and got access to her financial records."

"Oh boy." Oliver mumbled.

"Ten million dollars!" Laurel shouted, slamming her hands on his desk in front of him. "It happened in several smaller transactions but there's no way to hide ten million dollars."

"So what happened?"

"We order the arrest warrant and go to her place. Thankfully, she's still there but she's literally packing."

"She was going to disappear?" Oliver asks.

"With ten million dollars." Laurel added grimly.

This sounded like a corruption case on Gotham City's scale. While none of America's major cities were known as being a place for angels, Gotham City definitely earned its reputation for being as corrupt as they came. While Oliver may hate the man, he hoped that Wayne was right about his ability to right the wrongs of that city.

"So what's your problem?"

"I've been asked by the Mayor to resign."

"What? Why?" Oliver shouted.

"Because I personally vouched for this ADA when I hired her. Even though they can't truly connect me, they say that I should have moved quicker. If I would have worked on my hunch quicker, they would have been able to declare a mistrial and retry him. Now, he's getting out of jail in four months, two if he behaves."

Even though she may have hated Oliver, he couldn't help but feel bad for her. She had worked hard to overcome her own demons and get to a good place. Now, it was being taken away from her by a greedy young ADA who couldn't resist the allure of being a multi-millionaire.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I have to resign." Laurel said shortly. "You can't fight something like this. As it is, I'm not in a huge amount of debt or anything like that. However, I do need to keep a job. Because of my...vices, if I don't work, things could get very bad."

"Laurel, are you asking for a job?" Oliver asked in shock.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be!" Laurel roared. "Yes, I am. I try to keep my prior issues private and if I want to go through an application process with anyone else, all that is going to come back and any chance of getting hired is gone."

"Alright, let's see." Oliver said, opening a list of charitable organizations QC owned. "Here. QC's Legal Aid Assistance Program. It works out of Queen Tower but also has an office in The Glades. Dedicated in memory of Tommy Merlyn."

All of the sudden, Oliver began to panic. He suddenly realized that Tommy's reappearance could have giant ramifications to the woman in front of him.

"How does that sound?" Oliver asked softly.

"Good. What would I be doing?"

"It works very similarly to CNRI. Through my own funds, we provide legal aid to those who can't afford it themselves, especially those who have been wronged by large corporations."

"Works for me." Laurel replied before noticing the strange look on his face. "Is everything okay, Oliver?"

"Yeah, although there is something you should know. You see-"

"Mr. Queen?"

Looking up, Oliver saw Anderson standing in the doorway.

"Anderson?"

"They're ready for you."

For now, his conversation with Laurel would have to wait. Standing, Oliver again fixed his tie before marching out of the room and down the hall to his own personal press conference hall. As expected, the room was packed and he was instantly barraged by questions the second he hit the door. Pushing his way through the crowd, Oliver finally made his way to the podium.

"Firstly, I would like to offer my condolences to the friends and family of Isabel Rochev. Isabel was a valued member of the QC team and we will all miss her greatly. We hope to offer SCPD with any assistance and resources they need to assist in finding Isabel's murderer."

Oliver wasn't entirely sure but he could have sworn he heard Thea chuckle just after the word "valued." For Thea's sake, he hoped he was imaging it.

"Unfortunately, business must go on at Queen Consolidated. With the vacuum left by Ms. Rochev, we found ourselves in need of a new Chairman of the Board. For the last few years, my sister, Thea Queen, has expressed an interest in joining QC to help further my family's legacy but the timing never seem right. Now, with the not-so-veiled threat from Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne, I couldn't think of a better time. So, as CEO of Queen Consolidated, I am naming Thea Queen to the Board of Directors as Chairman."

Instantly, the room exploded with questions. Patiently, Oliver waited with his hand in the air, requesting silence in the room. Once he got it, he continued.

"When I took over at QC, I was not what one would consider a business mastermind." Oliver said with a smirk, causing the reporters in the room to laugh. "But, over time, I have taken Queen Consolidated to places that my father never dreamed of. Without the opportunity to stretch my legs, I may have never know just how capable I was. This is the opportunity I am now affording my younger sister. Thea has been the owner/operator Verdant in The Glades for a few years now and we will bring her youth and energy to QC and use it where it is greatly needed: to help the people of Starling City get back on their feet."

Again, Oliver was bombarded by questions and once again, Oliver patiently waited them out.

"I have two other announcements." Oliver said, looking to the back of the room where Laurel stood. Seeing her head nod, Oliver continued. "First, I am very excited to announce a new project with The Department of Defense. Queen Consolidated has specialized in non-lethal weaponry since I took over as CEO and today is no different. Today, Queen Consolidated VP Felicity Smoak signed a deal with the DOD to manufacture a new form of sonic weaponry for the US military. You will be able to talk to Ms. Smoak more about that later."

While that news was exciting, it was mostly for potential investors as the information about the weapons given to reporters would be minimal. However, Oliver knew that their next story would certainly be a bombshell. "

Second, and more personal to me, I have hired a new lead counsel for Queen Consolidated's Legal Aid Assistance Program. To most citizens of Starling City, she should be a familiar face. I am proud to bring one of Starling's brightest back home and welcome to the QC family, Laurel Lance!"

If the room had been loud before, it was nothing compared to the audible explosion that occurred as Laurel made her way to the front. Shaking hands with Oliver, the pair posed for a picture before Oliver returned to the microphone.

"As most of you know, Laurel Lance is one of my oldest friends. I couldn't be happier to bring her back to Starling City." Oliver said with a smile that was hardly returned by Laurel. "Now, you will all get press releases in your email later. No questions for the time being."

* * *

Later that evening, Oliver sat in his Queen Mansion bedroom which he had mostly converted into his own office. Each of the current tenants (Oliver, Sara, Thea, Diggle, Roy and Felicity) had been given their own room to do with as they wish as a place to escape. With the six of them living there, it could get quite cramped even with the massive size of Queen Mansion. So, after the long day of work at Queen Tower, Oliver retreated to his room for some much needed personal space.

Unfortunately, that space was invaded only moments after he arrived home. While he sat on his desk, which he had changed to face away from the door, someone had snuck in behind him, which meant only person could be there.

"Lead counsel for the Legal Aid Assistance Program?"

"Yes, Felicity." Oliver replied with a smirk. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"Not at all." Felicity answered as she marched in front of him before landing on his bed gently. "I just think it's funny that she leaves town screaming at you and then in her moment of need, you're the person she goes to for help."

"Laurel and I have a very complicated relationship."

"Sounds familiar." she shot back.

"Felicity..."

"Oliver, we've talked about this enough since I've came back." Felicity replied shortly. "I'm glad to be back in town. I'm glad to be back here with you."

"But you aren't with me, Felicity." Oliver fired back, an edge creeping into his voice. "You may work for QC again but that's the extent of your relationship with me."

"And what do you want from me?" Felicity replied, her eyes narrowing.

"I want Felicity Smoak back." Oliver answered shortly.

"I'm right here, Oliver."

"You know what I mean." Oliver answered pointedly.

"I do." Felicity admitted sadly. "Look, Oliver, you remember what I told you at the hospital, right?"

"I do." Oliver replied, echoing Felicity.

"Well, then you know why I don't  _hang out_ with you anymore and why we can't pursue any kind of relationship."

"I'm not asking for any kind of relationship other than a friendly one. I would love to just be able to go out and get Big Belly Burger with you or something like that."

For a few seconds, Felicity looked at Oliver peculiarly. Finally, she answered in a voice that hovered just above a whisper.

"We'll see." was all she said.

It took Oliver several seconds to snap out of his fog and remember that she had obviously come in here for a reason. Sitting up, Oliver did his best to clear his mind before he spoke.

"So you obviously didn't just wander in here: what can I do for you?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time that I just wandered in here." Felicity replied absentmindedly before a look of horror crossed her face as she realized what she had just said. "Not what I meant. I've only walked in here when you were here. I mean, you weren't awake, but...ok, stopping now."

"Good idea." Oliver chuckled.

"No kidding." Felicity muttered, her face redder than a tomato. "Anyway, you remember that Bruce Wayne is in town?"

"Felicity, I literally spent all day dealing with that." Oliver replied with a smile.

"Oh...yeah, anyway, he's in town supposedly meeting with Lex Luthor."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, Wayne hates Luthor. I mean, really hates him, more than he hates you, which is impressive because he really, REALLY hates you."

"Thanks for that."

"No problem." Felicity replied without realizing that Oliver had spoke entirely in sarcasm. "Anyway, it got me wondering why he would choose to meet with Luthor over you."

"And I'm assuming you found something?"

"I did."

Quickly, Felicity flipped her tablet around to show him what she had found. A quick skim of the information meant that Oliver saw words like "asteroid," "theft" and "explosive properties."

"We both know I'm not going to read all of this." Oliver mused with a grin at Felicity. "What's the deal?"

"Two years ago, LexTech scientists found an asteroid near the North Pole. Now, this is important because the asteroid's molecular make-up couldn't be identified. It was nothing that we had ever seen before."

"How come we didn't hear about this?"

"It's still considered a scientific anomaly even though basically everyone that's looked at it has agreed with the findings." Felicity said as she started to find her groove. Oliver knew better than to interrupt her from now until she was done. "So, we have this compound that we can't identify. And it's big, like three semi trucks parked next to each other big. It's cut into three pieces and then airlifted to LexTech HQ in Metropolis. From there, various tests are performed on the "sample." They find out that it gives off a small, almost negligible amount of radiation. As far as they ever discovered, it does nothing to us. However, they did find something else about it: it's incredibly volatile."

"Volatile, how?" Oliver asked, unable to prevent the question from slipping out.

"When exposed to high temperatures, it becomes explosive. Like atom bomb explosive. A golf-ball sized piece could take down Queen Tower. A size roughly the size of a softball could wipe out all of The Glades. You get much bigger than that-"

"You're taking out a city."

"Exactly!" Felicity replied excitedly. "So, this was kept under lock-and-key with only Luthor and a small crew of scientists having access."

"And why is that important?"

"Because it was stolen."

Well, now that was something.

"Stolen? How much of it?"

"All of it." Felicity replied, the look in her eye suggesting that she already had her conspiracy theory formulated. "The entire chunk, all 150 tons of it, just disappeared overnight. Here's where things get weird: not a single security alarm went off and no one noticed the giant rock disappear. Video footage from the evening is corrupted and a smaller than usual security crew was scheduled for the evening."

"Meaning this was an inside job."

"Exactly and I think it was the highest kind of inside job."

"You believe that Luthor arranged for the theft of this asteroid." Oliver asked skeptically.

"I do." Felicity replied before switching her tablet to a second screen. This was a list of bank records. "These are Lex Luthor's accounts, all of them and let me tell you, the man is hiding more money than he's publicly listed as being worth, which is all kind of suspicious. But what's mostly suspicious is this: transactions from numerous sources in Jordan, Pakistan and North Korea. When I do a little digging, all of these accounts relate to someone that has, at bare minimum, being accused of funding international terrorism."

"So you think that Luthor stole this rock from his own company and is planning on selling or has already sold it to terrorists? Why would he do that? As you put it, he's got more money that we thought he did and he's already the wealthiest man on the planet."

Oliver's skepticism hardly affected Felicity. Instead, she charged back into her accusations headfirst.

"I think that most of his wealth didn't come from LexTech. I think that the reason he's hiding so much of his wealth is that he acts as some kind of international broker. If you go back even further, almost every account that he's working with is connected to something illegal."

"You think that Wayne has this information?"

"I know he does." Felicity replied firmly. "He's here, not to worry about QC, but Luthor. I think he needed an excuse to get close to him and his company's financial records and this was the best way for him to do it."

Instantly, Oliver was up and moving into the next room. After a relatively quick walk down the hall, he found himself inside the new Arrow Command Center where every other housemate was already waiting.

"When is Wayne meeting with Luthor?" Oliver asked Felicity as he brought up all the information they had on the other two billionaires.

"Right now, actually." Felicity replied as she bumped Oliver out of the way and continued what he had been doing, only three times faster. "When we wake up, they'll have started buying. QC stocks are typically quite low in the morning and then as the business day goes on, we build."

"So, they'll start early." Oliver said to himself before turning to Thea. "Did you get that paperwork filed?"

"I did. All we have to do is call the trading board when we want it activated."

"Already. Here's the deal, Felicity did some digging and we believe that Luthor acts as some kind of trading broker. He sold or will sell an asteroid found two years ago that has unidentifiable properties other than that when it's heated, it blows up nuclear bomb-style."

"Not good." Diggle muttered.

"Not at all. We know that Wayne is encouraging this deal with Luthor to get rid of me but he also wants a closer look at Luthor's business records. With those, Wayne can probably create a case against Luthor. So, we want Wayne to get those records which is great because that meeting is happening now. However, we can't let the pair of them take QC. So, what we'll do is wait until they start buying. Once they do that, Thea will call in to combine our shares into a single trust."

"And unless they want to lay down an insane amount of money, they won't be able to top the shares the pair of you have." Roy replied.

"Exactly." Oliver confirmed.

"Oliver."

It was Felicity and her tone of voice worried Oliver greatly. Looking over at her, Oliver saw the fear in her face.

"What is it?"

"The sale. It's happening here."

"What? How do you know?"

"I hacked into his cell phone and was able to turn the microphone on. While I can't get audio samples, I get a text transcript of everything that he's saying."

"What's he saying?"

"He's talking on the phone with someone." Felicity replied, reading through the lines of text she was looking at. "Oh dear."

"What?" Oliver asked, again fearful of what she may say.

"He's talking about something called Kryptonite. That must be what they're calling that substance. He's promising someone that it does what it says and that he's going to prove it to them, so they know they're spending their money on the good stuff."

"Prove it to them? How?" Oliver asked in confusion.

For several seconds, Felicity read ahead until her mouth dropped in shock. Tears forming in her eyes, she turned to look at Oliver.

"They're going to blow up Queen Tower."

* * *

That evening, Oliver went solo with the rest of his team in his ear and waiting for his order. He knew that in order to both stop the sale of this Kryptonite asteroid and prevent his own company's building from being blown up, he would need help. The rest of Team Arrow had been tasked with ensure that Queen Tower was empty all night. With his own Team occupied, there was really only one place he could look for help.

Not that he liked that.

 _"Are you sure you want to do this?"_ Felicity asked in his ear.

"No choice. You guys have to clear out the building and I need help. He's the only one left and I know he's out here. In fact, where is he?"

_"Six blocks ahead. Looks to be on the roof of a building overlooking the hotel that Luthor is staying at."_

"Can you see Queen Tower from the hotel?"

 _"Yes."_ Felicity answered simply.

That was the only answer he needed. Once he heard her confirm that, he knew that at some point this evening Luthor would be entertaining guests in his hotel room with the destruction of Queen Tower.

Oliver very much intended to prevent that.

Racing across rooftops at a speed that Oliver rarely reached, it took Oliver only a minute to jump the six blocks of rooftops between the pair of them. Sure enough, when he reached the aforementioned rooftop, he was waiting.

And black battle armor was definitely the word for it. Dressed head to toe in a black material that looked to be rubber back with Kevlar, he had a long black cape that hung all the way to the floor and a cowl with two long pointy ears.

Not necessarily the most intimidating description although, even from behind, the look was exceedingly effective.

**"Queen."**

That voice. While Oliver used technology to hide his voice, Wayne did no such thing. Instead, he simply lowered his voice to the point of it being hardly recognizable. Again, it may have sounded silly when you tried to sneak up on him but when he was hanging you over the edge of the building, he imagined the effect would be quite frightening.

"Wayne." Oliver replied, his voice hidden.

Slowly, The Batman turned around, his steely eyes burning as he looked upon The Green Arrow. Now that he could see The Batman for what he really was, he was impressed. The armor had to be heavy but it didn't appear to sit uncomfortably on him. In fact, he looked more relaxed than Oliver had ever remembered seeing him during their previous meeting.

Maybe like Oliver, he felt more comfortable in the skin of his alter ego.

**"I'll give you one warning. Go home and I won't be forced to break any bones."**

"Last time I checked, you didn't have superstrength. Unless you do, you're not really what I'm worried about." Oliver replied, only mocking him slightly. Oliver took a seconds pause before he continued. "I need your help."

**"Not interested."**

"Don't give me that, Wayne." Oliver barked. "You're here for a reason. You know what Luthor's been doing. You just needed an excuse to confirm it."

**"Wiping out your company seemed like a good excuse."**

"We'll get to that tomorrow but you know what's going on today. You know that he's going to sell that rock to someone that is going to use it for terrible things and if Felicity was able to hack his phone, then so are you. Which means that you know that he intends to blow up Queen Tower."

**"Which is none of my concern."**

"It is. If you let Queen Tower explode and then attempt to buy QC, the timing is going to be seen as very convenient for the two of you. No doubt you'll get out of it by saying that you're just taking advantage of the circumstances. But if I survive, I'm leaking the information on Luthor. He'll go down and you'll go down with him."

For a second, it appeared as if Wayne was considering what he was saying.

**"Last chance to get out of my way."**

Guess not.

In a  _flash,_ Oliver nocked an arrow and fired. Unfortunately, Batman dove out of the way before reaching into his belt. As he got to his feet, he fired four small blades at The Arrow. Moving as quickly as he could, Oliver dove, reaching for the fletchettes on his arm. As he rose, he fired one of them at Batman, striking him in the arm. A roar from Batman let Oliver know that he had hit his mark.

In response, Batman charged. As he got within range, Batman reared his right hand back, going for a destructive haymaker. As he released the punch, Oliver caught it, using Batman's momentum to flip him over. Unfortunately, when Batman hit the ground, he stuck his leg out, sweeping Oliver off his feet. Roughly, Oliver hit the concrete, rolling away from Batman the moment he could.

He had moved just at the right moment as Batman had attempted to roll and throw a heavy elbow at the prone Archer. Using his roll, Oliver leapt to his feet, bow ready. As Batman moved to his feet, Oliver struck, blasting the Dark Knight with a strong swing of the bow. His aim was true and the bow cracked Batman in the jaw. A grunt escaped Batman's lips as he fought back to his feet.

This time, Batman approached slowly and more cautiously. A quick jaw caught Oliver right in the jaw. Unfortunately, this was just a set-up for a big hit as Batman stuck Oliver with a knee to his stomach, forcing all of Oliver's air out of his lungs.

Instantly, The Green Arrow saw stars and began gasping for air. Taking this as a victory, Batman turned away from Oliver.

Big mistake.

Once Oliver could move again, he jumped roughly to his feet. Moving as quick as he could, Oliver fired a trick arrow at the Batman's feet, tying them up and forcing him to the ground. As he hit the ground, Batman reached down with one of his blades, cutting the ropes. Thankfully, this gave Oliver enough time to catch his breath and step forward with his bow again.

This time, Oliver went smaller, much like Wayne had seconds earlier. Rather than one large strike, Oliver went for smaller strikes, making contact with his leg, shoulder and right arm. Finally, once Batman was off-balance, Oliver stepped forward and swung his bow directly into Batman's stomach.

Like Oliver had been seconds earlier, Batman collapsed, croaking as he worked for air. Unlike Batman, Oliver didn't take this as a win. Instead, he withdrew several arrows from his quiver and fired, pinning Batman to the roof of the building by his cape. Once that was done, Oliver pulled out one more and drew the bow, aiming it directly at Wayne's left arm.

Having fought the Batman for the first time, Oliver could tell a few things. One: The man was insanely talented as a fighter. Two: It was obvious that he hadn't been doing this as long as Oliver had. Three: His level of creativity during a fight was on par with Oliver's, which Oliver had never faced before.

"You don't listen and I put this arrow in your arm."

**"Go for it."**

"Damn it, Wayne!" Oliver shouted in frustration. "I don't want any of this. I want to save my city, you want to save yours. Help me save mine. You don't care about Starling, why should you? I do. Queen Consolidated does more for this city than the rest of the city's charitable organizations combined. Even if you buy the company out, Queen Tower is a sign of that. That tower goes down, this city goes with it."

For a few seconds, Wayne continued to glare at Oliver, a look of pure hatred in his eyes. However, Oliver could see the gears inside Wayne's head moving. Sure enough, second later, Wayne's gaze broke.

**"What's the plan?"**

Trusting Wayne not to attack him, Oliver removed the arrows pinning him to the ground. Slowly, Wayne stood, obviously still enraged at being "beaten" but taking it rather well, Oliver thought.

"I already have a team clearing out Queen Tower." Oliver started. "It should be empty. What I'll need you to do is access the sewers. With my team securing the building and there being nothing out of the ordinary, they must be attempting the blow up the building at its base. Go to the sewers and prevent them from blowing up that asteroid."

**"Fine. What will you be doing?"**

"I'll start by providing street support. Once you've confirmed that you have taken care of them, we'll move to Luthor's location."

**"Why am I the one going into the sewers?"**

"Between the two of us, you're better equipped to fight in small spaces and we're going to need one of us to remain on top to ensure that no one gets tries to come in for back-up."

**"Fine."**

With that, the two of them took off. Oliver had to admit that he was impressed with how quickly Wayne was able to move with all the armor on. Within only a few minutes, Oliver and Wayne arrived at Queen Tower. Once Felicity directly them to the most likely sewer entrance, Wayne moved down into the sewers with his comm linked to Oliver's.

For several agonizing minutes, Oliver waited for something, anything.

Suddenly...

**"Done."**

"What?" Oliver said in shock. "I didn't hear anything."

**"Exactly."**

Wow was all Oliver could think.

 _"The Batman is just as good as advertised."_ Felicity muttered into his comm.

Making sure to block Wayne from this particular message, he replied: "Better. Hood and Arsenal, secure what is there. We'll be taking the sample to QC for analysis before sending it to WayneTech."

**"What?"**

"Well, I figured you would want to get something out of this. I keep Queen Tower, you get to look at that blasted asteroid."

**"Fair enough."**

That short response would have been nice if it hadn't happen right behind him. Oliver had found the only person on Earth not named Felicity Smoak that could sneak up on him.

To say it was mildly disconcerting was an understatement.

"Let's move." Oliver replied before taking off at a run. As they did, Oliver spoke. "I'll take a spot at the point we met tonight. When I say go, Felicity will shut off power to the building. I'll take out everyone but Luthor. You will breach and grab Luthor. Take him to the roof and I'll meet you there."

Oliver's only response was a grunt. Again, within minutes, they were back where they started. Oliver noticed that despite all the weight he was carrying, Wayne didn't even appear to be out of breath. Anyone else would have been dead with the pace they were moving at.

Oliver's begrudging respect for The Dark Knight continued to grow, as much of a dick as he was. Wayne quickly snuck into the building and got into position.

"We ready?"

**"Go."**

"Felicity, some help please."

With those words, the lights in Luthor's hotel room went dark. As they did, Oliver, who had put on night vision goggles, began to fire. By his count, there were six people in the room other than Luthor. The first got an arrow to the right shoulder, the second to the left leg. Person #3 got tied to a wall and #4 got electrocuted. #5 and #6 both got the same arrow to their legs, one left and one right.

With the rest of them out of the way, Oliver could see Wayne's shadow burst into the room, landing one destructive punch to Luthor's face, instantly knocking him unconscious. As Batman worked his way to the roof, Oliver launched a line to the hotel, ziplining across and landing gently on the roof. Just seconds later, Wayne emerged from the stairs with a very unconscious Luthor on his shoulder.

"You want to take care of him?" Oliver asked.

**"Gladly."**

"Good." Oliver replied. "If his buyers have connections in Starling, let me know."

**"Will do."**

With that, Wayne turned, pressing a few buttons on his wrist computer. For some reason, Oliver felt the compulsion to say something. Before he could Wayne spoke up, using his real voice.

"We're not friends, Queen." Bruce said shortly. "I don't condone killing in any way for whatever reason. But, so long as you don't kill anyone, I would work with you again."

"Really?" Oliver asked, unable to contain his shock.

"You're good. Much better than I thought you would be."

For some reason, Oliver had an idea that would be the only compliment he would ever receive from Wayne. Looking forward, he was right.

"Don't worry about QC. I won't be buying."

"You wouldn't have been able to buy us out anyway."

"I know." Bruce replied cryptically. With that, Bruce leapt off the side of the building. What he planned to do with Luthor, Oliver wasn't sure he wanted to know. What he did know is that he had found himself a new reluctant ally.

As reluctant as you could possibly be but an ally nonetheless.

In a world with Slade Wilson and Ra's al Ghul, you could always use more of those.


	7. VI: Scudder

"Any calls this morning?" Oliver asked as he stepped into the news room, as the other members of Team Arrow had affectionately dubbed it.

"Let me think about that." Felicity muttered as a phone rang behind her. "Oh, yes."

"It can't be that bad." Oliver replied with a chuckle.

"Well, twenty minutes ago, LexCorps started buying QC stocks in massive chunks and each time they purchase, the market responds, causing the price to drop which makes it even easier for Luthor to buy stocks."

"I'm amazed he can buy at all."

"Well, he's probably not the one actually buying." Felicity replied seriously, obviously missing the joke. "And I know that you have your secret, awesome plan to stop Evil Bald Man from taking over your company but no else knows that! Seriously, why couldn't you have told the Board yesterday?"

"Because while I do trust them to give me their opinions, I don't trust them not to talk to anyone about this and I don't know who they would talk to and I know that at least one person they would talk to, I couldn't trust."

"Why wouldn't you want this to get out?" Thea asked softly. Oliver could tell that she was nervous about the responsibility that a place at QC could potentially place on her. He could tell in the way that she asked that she was worried about being perceived as stupid or ignorant.

"So that Luthor would waste his money."

That voice was not Oliver's. Instead, it was the voice of Queen Mansion's newest resident, Laurel Lance. While Laurel and Oliver hadn't really had much of a chance to talk since she had returned to town, she had been aware enough to accept his request that she stay at Queen Mansion. She had obviously read the look of worry on his face and acted correctly.

"She's right." Oliver confirmed. "Luthor was exceedingly confident in this purchase, even after last night's issue. So confident, in fact, that he had to liquidate 12% of LexCorps stock in order to purchase the requisite number of shares in order to become majority owner."

"Or at least split it with Wayne." Diggle added. "I've noticed that he's still buying this morning."

"It's what we talked about. He will buy until LexCorps starts buying in massive chunks and then sell back. Once he starts to sell back, the price will continue to plummet, forcing Luthor to sell for pennies on the dollar. He won't be able to repurchase his 12% stock. Tomorrow, Wayne and I announce a joint venture complete with contract, our prices climb and I purchase that 12%. Since we already own 3% in LexCorps stock, we'll own 15% which would allow Thea and myself, who are currently acting as one financial entity, a single place at the LexCorps Board of Governors."

"You really thought this out." Felicity replied, obviously impressed with her boss and friend.

"Like I've said numerous times over the past month or so, being the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company is a good training into how to be a better businessperson."

* * *

That evening, Team Arrow minus Felicity who was elsewhere in the mansion, sat in front of the TV to monitor their handiwork.

_"In what could only be described as an awful day for Lex Luthor, his so-called joint venture to purchase Queen Consolidated failed today. By noon, Wayne and Luthor had purchased a reported 37% share of the company when Wayne instantly started selling his shares back to the market. Wayne reportedly had issues with Lex Luthor's earlier reported ties to major players in the international terrorist market. Once Mr. Wayne discovered this information, he immediately called Mr. Luthor and broke off their arrangement."_

_"In a letter sent to Channel 52 News, Oliver Queen detailed the efforts he and his sister, Thea Queen, took to protect their company, including the creation of the Queen Trust, a fund run jointly b the Queen siblings with almost 70% ownership on the company. Economists say that Luthor and Wayne would have needed to sell nearly half their companies' stocks in order to complete the takeover. Mr. Queen, along with Ms. Queen and Mr. Luthor, were unavailable for comment. All Mr. Wayne had to say was that he looked forward to working with Queen Consolidated in the future."_

_"And for our final story this evening, a shocking turn of events in Metropolis. Earlier today, a school bus stalled while on a set of railroad tracks as a train was barreling down the track towards it. Just when it seemed that the two were going to collide, something miraculous happened but you'd have to see it to believe it."_

Oliver sat, content in his days work, and watched the video. Sure enough, it looked almost certain that the school bus was going to get blasted by the train. But then, something that couldn't really be explained happened. Literally a second before the bus was going to be hit, it simply teleported out of the way.

"What the hell?" Roy muttered as he watched the TV.

"Rewind that." Oliver ordered to Roy, who instantly complied. Sure enough, the bus was there one second and then the very next, it was forty feet away from the tracks, well out of range of the train.

"All of our TV video is synced to the computers, right?" Oliver asked Sara who was already running to the other room. Quickly, Oliver unpaused the video and let the anchor return.

_"Authorities are completely baffled by these events. No evidence exists of a doctored attempted and nearly every student on the bus, the bus' driver and the train conductor had similar stories."_

Quickly, Oliver shut off the phone before dialing Barry Allen's phone number.

"Barry?"

_"Oliver? What can I do for you?"_  he replied, surprised to hear from his hero friend.

"The Flash hasn't been making any appearances in Metropolis, have you?"

_"So you saw that video too?"_  Barry asked.

"I did. Is it you?"

_"Nope."_ Barry replied simply.  _"I haven't left Central City since Coast City held that Subatomic Convention. Which was a great event by the way. You missed a great deal."_

"Thanks but no thanks." Oliver replied, hanging up abruptly before dialing again.

_"I figured saving your company would be enough to get you to stop talking to me."_

"Have you seen the news?" Oliver asked in a hurry. "That story from Metropolis."

_"Yes. Slow down the video. That will you give you our answer. We have something new."_

With that, the line on the other end of the phone went dead. Instantly, Oliver went over to Felicity where she had already brought the video up for analysis.

"Slow it down as much as you can." Oliver said shortly as he fell in behind her.

"Why?"

"You'll see." Oliver replied cryptically as the rest of the team crowded around him.

As quick as she could, Sara worked the video, stretching the one second it took for the bus to move into a complete one minute video. For nearly forty seconds, the group gathered watched as the train inched closer and closer to the bus in slow motion.

Then, something completely remarkable happened. With a speed that couldn't be imagined considering they were playing the video at 1.6% of its normal speed, a man  **flew** from off screen, made contact with the bus and picked the bus up with no effort whatsoever.

"What the fuck." Oliver muttered softly.

Then, before any of them could even get used to the man being there, he flew back off screen, disappearing. In real time, this had all occurred in 1/4 of a second.

"That can't be real." Diggle replied.

"Why not?" Oliver said softly, collapsing into a chair next to Sara's desk. "We have Barry. There was Slade. Powers on this level aren't impossible."

"Oliver, Barry runs fast. Faster than anything I've ever seen, I'll give you that. And Slade was strong but this man was as fast as Barry is, maybe even faster, and he picked up a god damn school bus!" Diggle barked. "Like it was nothing! We've never seen anything with that kind of power."

"Yet." Felicity uttered, walking into the room. "I watched the clip over your shoulder. Barry is that fast. We know he is but Barry always said that he didn't even think that he was the pinnacle of humanity. He just had this feeling that there was someone out there who was better."

"So Barry predicted this mega man coming?"

"Not really." Felicity replied. "He said he thought that there was always some "super man," something that defied all laws of physics and what we know about human evolution. With what we've seen over the years, he could be an alien, he could be from the future, we can't rule anything out."

Sitting there, Oliver couldn't believe they were having this conversation. He still was having trouble reconciling what he had seen. But now, he really couldn't believe that he wasn't questioning the video. He just accepted it as much as it blew him away.

"What happens if that Superman goes rogue?" Oliver posed to no one in particular. "What happens if instead of saving school buses, he's using that power to blow them up?"

For a few seconds, everyone sat and let that question sink in. But, of course, Felicity, who else, had an answer.

"Talk to Wayne. Talk to Barry. Between the three of you, you should be able to combine forces and defeat him."

"Like some noble version of The Suicide Squad?" Diggle asked skeptically.

"I guess." Felicity replied. "I'm sure you'll come up with a fun name later but it's a conversation the three of you should have. You never know, there may be more of you out there."

Now that was a thought that truly frightened Oliver Queen and he was not one to get frightened easily.

* * *

It took nearly two more weeks before there was any updates for Team Arrow, which was good when they finally came because Team Arrow was on the verge of killing each other. Despite most of them being able to go out each night, the amount of time they spent pent up inside the house together was killing them.

Thankfully, Sara Lance saved the day.

"I've got her." Sara announced as she stepped inside the news room. Instantly, everyone's eyes locked onto the printout The Canary held in front of her. Even her sister, who had a very limited understanding of what was going on, was interesting.

"What do you have?" Oliver asked sharply.

"Talia returned to the League two years ago." Sara started, skimming through the paper in front of her. "According to some of my contacts in Nanda Parbat who don't particularly care for Ra's, she's been leading training for the last eighteen months. However, she only rarely actually made physical appearances."

"What do you mean?" Roy questioned.

"Apparently, the League has gone high tech in the past few years. She was mostly training her students via video conference. They said that they believed she was somewhere in the States. Following one of the aliases that I know she used in the past, she spend a significant amount of time in Gotham City and some other time here in Starling."

"She was here?"

"Yes. Only for a few months, right after The Undertaking."

That timing certainly worried Oliver. If Talia al Ghul had been in Starling just after The Undertaking, then it was more than likely that she was the one responsible for Malcolm Merlyn's resurrection, which then lead into Tommy's return from the grave.

"Sara, did you ever meet Talia while you were with The League?"

"Once." Sara confirmed.

"What do you know about her?"

"Not much." Sara admitted. "I do know that she's just as dangerous if not more dangerous than her sister. Nyssa may be a better fighter but if things were up to Talia, the fight would never happen."

"Why is that?" Felicity asked softly.

"There's a reason they're called Assassins. If Talia even had a thought that Nyssa had it out for her, she would have her killed moments after the plan was formed in her head. According to Ra's, she's the second best tactical mind he had ever known."

"Who was the first?" asked Diggle.

"The American she left The League for."

"Do we know who that is?" Laurel asked, finding all of this fascinating. Laurel had apparently heard of Nyssa before. At least, Oliver assumed that was his connection to this story and why she was so interested.

"We don't." Sara admitted. "I'm pretty sure that he was the reason she was in Gotham but if she was in contact with him, we wouldn't know. Either way, whoever she left with wasn't there when I was there."

"Is it possible that he was out on a mission of some kind?"

"No."

"How do you know that?" Oliver asked skeptically.

"Because he is The One We Do Not Speak Of." Sara replied, reverting to some form of Assassin training as she spoke. She spoke the name fearfully as if she expected to be hurt for even mentioning the title.

Oliver actually had to suppress a laugh with how ridiculous a name that was. Leave it to someone like The League of Assassins to create such a long and drawn-out name.

"The One We Do Not Speak Of?" Oliver asked with a smirk. "Why is he called that?"

"Because he blew up the home of The Head of the Demon."

"Excuse me?"

"He was apparently the intended of Talia al Ghul. However, when he refused to take a mission, Ra's al Ghul banished him from the records of The League of Assassins and ordered his execution. Siding with him, Talia fought her father, although she was taken by the men of Ra's al Ghul. She was imprisoned within the walls of Nanda Parbat for five years as punishment for her crime." Sara informed them. Listening to Sara was remarkable. She rarely spoke of her time with The League and when she did, she suddenly reverted back to some form of reverence for Ra's al Ghul. More than likely, she respected Ra's because he saved her, although there was always a part of Oliver that feared Sara had done things as an Assassin that Oliver could not fathom.

"Unfortunately for Ra's," Sara continued. "The Unspoken One was a better fighter and a smarter man. He fought Ra's al Ghul to a draw, resorting to explosives to win the fight. He detonated a small explosive inside Ra's home, causing it to catch fire. Within minutes, the house had burnt to the ground and The Unspoken One had vanished."

"Do you know what the mission was that he refused to take?"

Suddenly, the look on Sara's face was one of shock and understanding as if years of hearing this story finally made sense.

"He refused to kill the Mayor of Gotham City." Sara said softly. "He was to be the point man of Ra's' plans in Gotham City. First, he would come to Gotham and establish himself as someone of money, power and repute. Then, he would assassinate the Mayor and run to take his place."

"Sounds vaguely familiar." Diggle muttered darkly.

"However, The Unspoken One didn't believe in murder and told Ra's he would not murder a man to save a city."

"He was against murder?" Oliver asked, the pieces suddenly coming together. "Do you know when The Unspoken One blew up Ra's' home?"

"At the end of his formal training nine years ago."

Suddenly, the puzzle made sense.

"Where was the first place Talia went after she was released from her imprisonment?"

"Gotham City. Four years ago." Sara replied. "She stayed for eighteen months before moving to Starling. She was here until she left...three weeks ago."

Instantly, Oliver was up and moving towards the computer room with Sara and Felicity on his heels.

"Felicity, find out just how long Isabel Rochev was in Starling City."

"Got it." she replied as she got down to work.

"Sara, don't you think it's a bit conveinent that the man they supposedly wanted to kill the Mayor wouldn't because he didn't believe in murder." Oliver replied as he started working his own computer.

"I do. What are you thinking?"

"You know what I'm thinking." Oliver replied as he flipped his computer screen around, showing the headline of an old edition of  _The Gotham Gazette._ In large, bold letters, the title read: **Gotham's First Family Murdered!** , with  **Thomas and Martha Wayne dead**.

"The boy billionaire who watched his parents die on the sidewalks of Gotham City. He would either be a murderer or the exact opposite: he would oppose murder of any kind. The billionaire with power, money and repute just waiting for him when he does return. Doesn't that seem like the kind of person ideally placed to strike at the heart of Gotham City?"

"It does." Sara replied as Felicity suddenly interrupted them. "You two have to see this."

"What is it?"

"So, we have Talia al Ghul, working under the name Melisandre Head, was in Starling City for three years. She first appeared about a month before Oliver returned from the island the second time and disappeared three weeks ago. There's no record of any public appearances, purchases, internet records, nothing."

"So?"

"On the flip side, we have Isabel Rochev. She first appeared, oh look at that, about a month before Oliver returned from the island the second time and she also disappeared, rather she was killed, three weeks ago. Meanwhile, we have a bevy of public records on her."

"You think they're the same person?"

"I don't know. You tell me." Felicity replied as she clicked. Instantly, the two passport pictures of Melisandre Head and Isabel Rochev appeared. They were identical. "Now, it is possible that we're wrong about Melisandre being Talia but if we're not."

"Then, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul has insider knowledge of every single thing my company has done for the last four years." Oliver replied nervously.

"But, we do have one plus." Felicity replied. "Because we know one thing she doesn't."

"That the Unspoken One is none other than Bruce Wayne." Sara replied. "Oliver, you know this means that Wayne knew Rochev was Talia the whole time."

"I know." Oliver said softly. "We'll talk to him about that the next time I see him."

* * *

"You guys about ready to call it quits for the evening." Oliver asked into his comms.

_"Evening? It's almost 7:30AM._ " Roy grumbled back.  _"We've been out here all night."_

"We never know when Ra's is going to attack. We need to be keeping an eye out for things that are out of the ordinary."

_"So you're going to deprive yourself of sleep?"_ Felicity said, before failing to stifle a yawn.  _"Not to mention depriving me of sleep, which is never a good thing. Then I turn into zombie-Felicity, an evil monster of drowsiness! Either way, we're not finding anything else tonight."_

"True. Let's head back in." Oliver replied as he reached his motorcycle. In truth, he was exhausted as well. They had been keeping extended hours on patrol for nearly a month now and the lengthened evenings with less sleep in between was starting to wear on him.

_"Gonna have to cancel that, GA."_ Diggle called into his mic.  _"Pull out your phone and go to .com"_

"Why?"

_"You'll see."_

Quickly, Oliver did what he said. As the website loaded, he saw that it was a website for an unidentified illusionist, calling himself The Mirror Master. The only thing on the website was one video. Clicking the play button, Oliver sat on his motorcycle and watched the video.

It started out with a blank auditorium stage. No music. No sound. Just the stage. Then, in an instant, the man calling himself The Mirror Master appeared. He wore a plain black suit with a black tie and black gloves. He was a thin, bald man with gaunt features and nearly black eyes. The look made his appear to be a skeleton in a suit. Slowly, he looked up at the camera and spoke.

"We all have our skills." he said slowly in a deep baritone voice. "The Flash in Central City is the World's Fastest Man. The Batman in Gotham City is being called The World's Greatest Detective. Here in Starling City, we have The Emerald Archer, The Green Arrow, The World's Greatest Archer."

The mention of himself in the distasteful tone of the Mirror Master made his stomach churn unsteadily.

"However, not even The World's Greatest Archer can hit a target that isn't there." he said softly. "Tomorrow evening, I will be hosting a performance at The Veterans Memorial Theatre. There, some of The Arrow's greatest supporters will be in attendance. Supporters like Detective Quentin Lance of the Starling City Police and Mayor Adam Donner."

Instantly, both men appeared on the screen tied up and standing in front of mirrors.

"You may think yourself this city's savior, Green Arrow. However, we both know that you are truly the one who has failed this city. You couldn't stop The Undertaking. You couldn't stop Deathstroke and now, you won't even be able to stop me. As my name suggests, I am a master of mirrors. Using them, I can make things disappear..."

With that and a simple wave of his hand, Quentin Lance disappeared.

"And reappear with ease."

Another wave and Detective Lance returned to his position.

"Here is the gamble, Green Arrow. At ten o'clock tomorrow evening, I will begin my show. At the end of my show, if you have failed, your friends will disappear, never to return. How can you be successful in stopping this, you ask? You will have three options. First, you can pay me 10 million dollars not to make the Detective and Mayor disappear. Second, and most likely the option a simpleton like yourself will take, you can try and stop me. Your final option, and the most likely outcome, is that tomorrow evening at 10:10, these two men will disappear, never to be heard from again."

With this, The Mirror Master chuckled softly, looking directly into the camera before the video ended.

"Return to Base." Oliver ordered.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, minutes after 8 o'clock in the morning, the entirety of Team Arrow and its allies sat in the Arrow Command Center, breaking down the video. Thankfully, it was Felicity who found something to start the meeting.

"He should have worn a mask." Felicity muttered. "Not only would we have been slightly more scared of him, but he wouldn't have revealed his identity."

"Who is he?" Oliver asked.

"Samuel Kenton Scudder. A former illusionist turned con artist and convict. For years, he operated under the name The Majestic. However, when one of his mirror tricks went wrong, a young assistant fell through one of the mirrors, paralyzing her from the waist down."

"Yikes." Roy whispered.

"From then on, no one would touch him. Scudder had taken out large business loans to pay for his solo act and had only barely begun to pay them back. So, he went to the only other people in town who would lend him money."

"The only question is did he go to the Italians or The Russians."

"Thankfully, he went to the Russians." Felicity replied.

"I'll call Anatoli later." Oliver said softly. "Everyone needs to go and get a couple hours of sleep."

"Well, hopefully not everyone."

Looking across the room, Oliver shouldn't have been surprised that the man in the doorway had been able to answer without raising any kind of suspicion. Standing in his doorway was The Flash, Barry Allen, and his wife, Iris.

"Everyone else, go get some rest. Apparently, Barry has something he wants to talk about." Oliver said with a tired smile.

Quickly, everyone, including a reluctant Felicity, left the room, leaving Oliver alone with the Allen couple.

"Sorry, I missed the wedding." Oliver started.

"We understood." Iris said softly. "We figured you didn't want to see her."

"I'm still amazed that you invited her to your wedding in the first place."

"Well, ex-girlfriend or not, she was one of the few people who knew my true identity. It seemed not fair to leave her out of things."

"So, confirmation, huh?" Oliver replied with a grin, although he didn't quite feel as happy as he showed. "Neither of you would ever actually tell me whether you were a thing or not."

"We were." Barry replied, looking down in embarrassment. "Briefly. For whatever reason, things just didn't work out. Personally, I think we both had other people we were pining for."

"Well, you had Iris."

"And she had you." Iris said simply.

"Not at all. We've had this conversation about a hundred times now. We simply can't do it."

"Doesn't mean that you don't love each other." Barry replied knowingly. "I mean I kept telling Iris that we could never get married because of who I am."

"It's a good thing I don't listen very well." Iris interrupted with a grin.

"Why did you decide to get married so soon?" Oliver asked curiously. "You'd only been dating six months, right?"

"Five." Barry corrected. "I don't know why so soon. It was just something we felt like we needed to do. Maybe one day, you and Felicity will get your shit together."

"Whatever." Oliver groaned, not wanting to discuss this particular topic at all. "Anyway, I'm sure that you didn't come all the way to Starling, in the fourteen seconds it probably took you to get here, to talk about my love life."

"Well, firstly, we flew." Barry replied, before nodding towards Iris. "She doesn't like being carried."

"Especially not at Mach 4." Iris said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, and secondly, it only takes me twelve seconds on a good day."

"Oh, I'm sorry, twelve seconds." Oliver said, mocking The Scarlet Speedster. "Anyway, what did you want to discuss?"

"Samuel Scudder, actually." Barry said simply. "We've had some experience with him. He was originally from Central. He only came here after I chased him out of town."

"Literally, I'm sure."

"Of course." Barry replied with a grin. "Anyway, we knew that Felicity was back in Starling and so we wanted to let you know that his illusions aren't really illusions."

"What are they then?"

"They're traps." Iris said softly. "He intentionally rigs his illusions to fail. We think it's a counter to his obsession with the one that did fail. Now, they all fail but they all succeed in their purpose."

"What's their purpose?"

"To cause mayhem. Panic. Pain. Take your pick." Barry answered firmly. "He's completely lost it at this point. As you saw, he's mostly doing jobs to pay back the mob. He hasn't gotten his money yet and so he keeps moving around, hiding from the Mob while trying to hit cities with generous billionaires. He figures the heroes of each city have some form of contact with the wealthy in the city and they can provide money for him."

"Little does he know."

"Exactly." Barry replied before standing up. "We have to go, Ollie. We just wanted to warn you. Do not give him the money without ensuring that Lance and Donner are out of the illusion first. If you don't..."

"We may be having a couple funerals."

"Exactly." Barry said before extending his hand. "If you need help, just let me know."

"Will do." Oliver replied, grasping Barry's hand. "It's good to see you."

"Same to you, Queen."

* * *

After only a few hours of sleep, Oliver was up. While the rest of the house was asleep, Oliver pulled out his phone, sat in one of the recliners in the news room and dialed. Very few people had powerful friends and even less had the head of the Russian Mafia on speed dial.

Thankfully for him, Oliver Queen wasn't most people.

"You had better have good reason for calling." Anatoli replied as he answered the phone. "I am getting ready for sleep."

"Sure you were." Oliver said jokingly. "I have a problem."

"You always have problem. Either friend in gulag, friend on boat, dead friend. Always friends, always problem."

"This one is directly related to you."

"Oh? How so?"

"Do you know who Sam Scudder is?"

"Is that name meant to be familiar?" Anatoli asked.

"He owes you money."

"Half world owes me money." Anatoli replied simply. "If I am expected to remember name of everyone who owes money, that is all I would remember."

"Fair enough. He's an illusionist from Central City. He borrowed money from the Bratva to pay for his business loans."

"Business is business, Olliver. If I do remember correctly, you are Bratva."

"Technically, I was banished by Alexi before Slade killed him."

"Not banished by me." Anatoli replied. "You are Bratva. As such, this man owes you money."

"Scudder doesn't owe me anything. But, he has taken two of my allies hostage and is threatening to kill them if he doesn't get ten million dollars from me."

"So pay the man."

"It's not that simple."

"Always that simple. You pay man, he goes away."

For the man's line of business and his general level of ruthlessness, Oliver enjoyed having Anatoli as a friend. His black and white view of the world was one that Oliver even marveled at, a black and white man himself.

"Anatoli, a friend of mine has faced Scudder before. He told me that he was paid the money and he still killed his hostages."

"Bad luck."

"Damn it, man!" Oliver shouted, before remembering that his Team was still asleep. "I need your help. I've helped you in the past."

"And I helped you. Or did you forget about Mister Diggle's problem?"

"I didn't forget about it. Listen, you help me this time and I will be in your debt. I know you, Anatoli, and I know that more than anything else, you love having someone in debt to you. Well, I would be very much in debt to you if you did this for me."

"What exactly are you ask of me?"

"Find out who exactly he owes the money to. They'll have contact with him. Give me that information so I can get some more background on the man."

For a few seconds, the Russian mobster did not answer. Instead, he sat in silence. Oliver prayed to everything that he was considering it. With Sara and Laurel living with him for the time being and Laurel recently returning to an uneasy alliance with him, he could not be responsible for her father's death. Not when things like Ra's al Ghul and his League of Assassins were bearing down on them.

"I will make call. Send information."

* * *

After getting off the phone the second time with Anatoli, Oliver motioned for Team Arrow to suit up. It was a bit strange for everyone to be suiting up with two house members, Laurel and Felicity, not changing into a more stealthy attire. The pair of them would remain behind and monitor the situation for the rest of the players in the field.

Once they were dressed, they loaded into the back of a non-descript black passenger van with Diggle driving. Once they were on the move, Oliver linked his comms with Felicity and Laurel's before beginning his prep announcement.

"It's going to take us roughly ten minutes to get downtown so listen up." Oliver said quickly. "I talked with Anatoli today about our man. As we know, the Mirror Master's identity is really Samuel Scudder. Scudder specialized as an illusionist before turning to crime to pay back his debts. According to Anatoli, who contacted some of Scudder's former employers, Scudder's weakness is that most of his illusions rely on electricity."

_"Which is where I come in."_ Felicity uttered into the mic.

"Exactly." Oliver confirmed. "Now, I worry about any of the rest of you coming in. He was very specific that he was challenging me, so here's the deal. I go in alone-"

"Ollie-" Sara interrupted.

"No, Sara. We do this my way." Oliver shot back. "I go in alone. The rest of you will surround the building and cover all exits. Once I go inside, I want radio silence to me unless it's of absolute importance. I'll have my comm on open mic, you'll be able to hear every word that the two of us say. Felicity, when I say the word redeem, that's your cue to cut the power."

_"Got it."_

"Now, we have to assume that he'll have backups. If he does, I'll know. If the power inside the Theatre doesn't go down, you will hear me say the word: money. If you hear that word, that's a go signal. That means that I can't figure out a way to stop whatever he's doing and the power didn't go down."

"That means get in there and bust heads."

"More than likely it will just be one head." Oliver replied. "According to Anatoli, Scudder likes to work alone."

"Good news there."

"Doesn't make him any less dangerous." Oliver warned. "Don't underestimate him."

As Oliver said that, Diggle slowed the car down.

"We're in front of The Vet." Diggle said simply. "Police have set up a perimeter around the building. The rest of us will have to work around that to get our position."

"Let's do it." Oliver said, flipping on his voice scrambler and throwing his hood over his head. Quickly, the group of them got out of the vehicle. The second their feet hit the ground, they were running and scaling buildings getting to their location while Oliver quickly approached the head police cruiser where the Chief of Police stood.

As of last year, the new Chief of Police in Starling City was a familiar face, Quentin Lance's long-time lieutenant Frank Pike. Pike had come to support The Arrow and had, on occasion, passed information to Oliver on cases that the SCPD couldn't solve with conventional tactics.

"Pike." Oliver growled as he approached him.

"Ah, the man of the hour." Pike mused softly. "Do you actually think they're still alive?"

"I've learned a lot about The Mirror Master in the last day. They're alive. He won't kill them until he's had the opportunity to challenge me."

"Whatever you say. You're the resident authority on crazy people in this town."

"If you say so." Oliver replied before stepping past the barricade and towards the large set of steps to the front of The Vet. As he did, Oliver spoke into his comm: "Check in."

_"Arsenal in position."_

_"Canary in position."_

_"Hood in position."_

_"Obviously, I'm still in position."_ Felicity chuckled.

"Oracle." Oliver growled, utilizing her new code name.

_"Fine, Oracle checking in."_

_"Condor checking in."_ Laurel said before adding.  _"Why do I have to be a condor?"_

"You know why." Oliver said with a grin. With everyone in position, it was ready for the show to begin. Taking a deep breath, Oliver opened the front door of the Vet and strode through. Everything inside the lobby of the giant theatre was lit, like a show was actually about to begin. Nervously, Oliver quickly raced through the lob and into the theatre.

The Veterans Memorial Theatre sat nearly 6,000 people, making it one of the largest theaters in the country. As such, when Oliver entered the auditorium, he could barely see the three people at the front of the stage. However, as he approached Oliver could see the contraptions and he was horrified by what he saw. Both Quentin and Mayor Donner were tied up to a chair. Surrounding that chair were what looked like four panes of one-way mirror, allowing Oliver to see in but certainly preventing the two hostages from seeing out.

The panes were bolted together to make a box. On top of that box was another box of the exact shape and size, this one filled with water. In between was a meshy kind of material that appeared to be holding the water at bay, although Oliver could already see a few inches of water in each box.

"The Mirror Master is such a misnomer, isn't it?"

As Oliver stepped on the stage, the aforementioned illusionist appeared out of thin air between the two of them. He was just as thin and skeletal looking as he had been in the video, more so in person, if that was possible. However, it was the look of desperation in his eyes that Oliver could not have seen through the video.

The only way to see that was in person.

"You see before I was known as the Mirror Master.-"

"I know all about you." Oliver interrupted.

"Oh, you may think-"

"Samuel Scudder, born February 29, 1961 to Michael and Willa Scudder. Lived in Central City for almost his entire life. Became fascinated with illusions at the age of 6. Studied as an apprentice under several of the world's most famous illusionists. Repeatedly accused of stealing tricks. Eventually forced out of the illusion business when one of your stunts failed, dropping an assistant 100 feet to her death. Sound about right?"

For a second, The Mirror Master looked deflated. Then, with a shake of his head, he corrected himself, stood tall and glared defiantly at Oliver.

"Of course, I should have expected The Green Arrow to do a background check." Scudder replied, mocking him. "Do you work before hand? Right?"

"My motto is smarter, not harder."

"If you were smart, you would have brought me 10 million dollars. So, unless you are very clever or have hidden it  _very well,_ your mantra has fallen flat."

"Did you seriously think I was going to pay you?"

"I did not." Scudder admitted. "You're too virtued to pay off a mad man like me, right?"

"There's still time for you to redeem yourself, Scudder. Let them go."

_"Got it."_ Oliver heard in his ear.

Seconds later, the only reaction that Oliver got to Felicity's action was a small beep. Slowly, The Mirror Master pulled a phone out of his pocket and looked at it menacingly.

"Trying to cut the power, are we?" Mirror Master asked softly, as if scolding a child. "Oh, you have just made your mistake, Green Arrow. As you can see, the water from these tanks is now starting to drip just that much faster."

Sure enough, the mere trickle that had been leaking into the boxes before was now more like a gentle rainfall.

"Now, I will take my leave. Before I leave, I will explain to you how these devices work. Each is set on top of a panel that can push out 700 volts of electricity. If the combined weight of the tank and the person lowers in any way, the charge goes off, killing the prisoner within seconds. Meanwhile, the tank above them will release water at a steady rate for the next thirty minutes. However, the chair they are tied to will float, meaning that it will take every bit of that thirty minutes to get them completely submerged. Just long enough for them to panic, I think."

At this point, Oliver could see that Scudder wasn't really after the money anymore. In the past, he may have been. Now, he was completely gone, as mental as mental could be.

"The finishing touch is the tank itself. Made of one-way glass, you can see in but our hostages cannot see out. As it is completely bulletproof and arrow proof, trust me, I've checked. Oh, and in tradition with the great old illusionists, it holds one of the most iconic items in the business, the trick lock. This particular model is the most famous one. Unfortunately for you, unless you've been trained by an illusionist, you will never break the lock."

With that, The Mirror Master grabbed his hat next to him, a simple fedora, and placed it on his head. Turning back slowly, The Mirror Master smiled.

"I know you must be terribly disappointed." he said softly. "You were expecting a disappearing act instead of drowning assistants. Maybe next time."

Suddenly, there was a shift in light in the room that blinded Oliver. When his sight had returned, The Mirror Master was gone. Unfortunately, his voice still plagued the theatre.

"Looks like you have about twenty-five minutes left. I would suggest you get to work."

"Any suggestions?" Oliver asked into his comm.

_"This is totally out of my comfort zone. Especially without being able to see it."_ Diggle replied.

_"Same here."_ Roy added.

"Thanks, guys." Oliver said, rolling his eyes. "Felicity, is the power off in the building?"

_"It is showing that it is off. He either disconnected the remote override, which I doubt, or he intentionally pick The Vet because he knew that it would have an emergency system."_

"It would have to be the second one. He had hooked the machines to start releasing the water when the power switched from the main grid."

_"Would it be possible to turn it off there?"_ Laurel asked.

"Unlikely. The alternate power source is probably in the foundation of the building. Not accessable from the theatre itself."

_"Now that I can do."_ Roy uttered.  _"Hood and I will move to the sewers and see if we can't access the remote power source."_

"You do that." Oliver replied, not sure if it would help but it was better than nothing. "Canary, keep your distance and watch for Scudder. If he makes any kind of appearance outside of the theatre, he's yours."

_"Got it."_

Looking at the contraptions, there was nothing Oliver could see that would work. Blowing the cases up would reduce weight, electrocuting the two of them. He couldn't break the glass and any attempt at the lock was certain to be folly since it didn't operate like a normal lock.

"Any information on trick locks, Oracle?"

_"You know for the amount of information that we store on the internet these days, it's amazing that there is hardly anything on trick locks and nothing on how to break them. These illusionists take their code of conduct seriously."_

"No joke."

_"Can you disable the electric platform?"_ Laurel questioned

"No, not enough time. He built the electric platform right into the stage. I would have to cut around the whole thing to get at the real hardware of it."

_"Great."_

Quickly, Oliver looked at his watch. Fifteen minutes had already passed. According to Scudder's estimates, he had ten minutes left. Looking inside the tanks, they were significantly more than halfway full with each prisoner floating face up towards the roof of the tank.

"What if I knock the tank off the platform?"

_"Excuse me?"_ That was definitely Sara.

"I have a couple concussion grenades with me. They're designed to knock things backwards with a concussive force but they don't have enough power to really cause any damage."

_"So you want to put them next to the tanks and try and knock the tanks off the platform? You do know that my dad is in there, right?"_ Laurel fired back.

"Well, would you prefer him electrocuted, drowned or blown up with a small chance of him surviving!?" Oliver shouted into the mic.

_"Oliver, check the lock."_

"It's a trick lock, Felicity." Oliver slipped, accidentally using her real name. "I can't just pick it like a normal lock. There's a secret set of instructions on how to open it."

_"Yes, but part of the trick lock is the sliding compartment that is used to break out. When someone does a trick like this one where they're trying to get out of a water tank, there's a sliding door at the top of the tank. They slip the knot, slid the door back and pick the "unpickable" lock."_

"It's worth a shot." Oliver muttered as he reached towards the top of the tank. As gently as he could, he reached and began to pull on the panel behind the lock. Sure enough, the panel slid away leaving a small gap in the top of the tank.

Unfortunately, The Mirror Master seemed to have anticipated this. As Oliver slid the panel, a projector above Oliver turned on, shooting a warped image of The Mirror Master over the balcony of the auditorium.

"Oh dear, did you really think it would be that easy? You needed to figure out a better way than simply to tamper with the machine. Unfortunately, this means that we need to punish our friends here for your transgressions."

The second the words were out of his mouth, the video disappeared. A moment later, the rest of the water from the top of the tanks came rushing into the bottom of the tanks, completely submerging the two hostages.

"Diggle, are you there yet?" Oliver shouted.

_"GIVE ME A MINUTE!"_

"Don't have time!" Oliver replied with a bellow before reaching into the underside of his quiver. In there, Oliver kept various items that could come to use. One of these was the concussion grenade Oliver had previously mentioned.

"Oracle, get ahold of Pike. Tell him to send paramedics in now."

_"Why?"_

"Because even if this does work, there's no telling what happens other than I'm fairly certain this glass isn't going to fell nice when I vibrate it into explosion."

_"Good point."_

As quickly as he could, Oliver dropped two of the grenades right next to the tanks before racing off the stage, leaping into the second row of the auditorium as the two grenades exploded. Instantly, the shock wave of the blast decimated the two tanks and blew the two hostages over. As he heard the explosion, Oliver instantly turned and jumped back to the stage. Just as he did, Adam Donner's left foot came down just inside the platform, sending a giant electric shock through him.

Moving as quickly as he could, Oliver grabbed the Mayor and pulled him just out of the platform's range, suffering a small amount of the shock as he did. Just as he pulled him away, he saw paramedics racing into the theatre and to the stage where Mayor Donner and Quentin lay tied to their chairs. Stumbling due to the amount of shock he had received, Oliver was thankfully to feel someone come under his shoulder just as he would have fallen.

"Got ya." Sara said softly.

"Thanks." Oliver mumbled softly, the pain really starting to get to him.

Oliver barely remembered being dragged by Sara and then by both Sara and Roy to the van. He really didn't remember the drive back to Queen Mansion. All he knew is that when he was able to register something again, he had changed (or been changed) into gym shorts and was lying in his bed.

And at that point, he didn't care.

* * *

The next morning, Oliver woke up aching everywhere, vividly remembering what he had done the previous night. Gently, he dragged himself out a bed, put a t-shirt on and walked across the hall to the Arrow Command Center. There, he saw Felicity leaning over her computer, sleeping gently on the keyboard. Looking at the screen, she seemed to have been typing 6 for the last few hours as she was apparently Google searching 6 repeating forever. Smiling at the techie in front of him, Oliver leaned down to wake her.

"Felicity." he whispered softly. He wanted to wake her but knew from experience that waking Felicity abruptly was a bad idea. "Felicity."

"Ghmhmg."

"Excuse me?"

"Good...morning." she whispered back, her eyes not opening.

"Are you actually awake or are you talking in your sleep?"

"Yes."

"That's not an answer."

"It is."

"I don't think so."

"What time is it?"

"10:24" Oliver said, looking at his watch. "What time did you fall asleep?"

"Last time I looked at the clock, it was midnight."

"Plenty of sleep."

"That's what you say."

"It is." Oliver replied, grinning wildly at his beautiful friend. There's that word: friend. He always wanted them to be friends. But, the more time he found himself around her, he wished they were more. "Why were you still working after I got back?"

With that question, Felicity's eyes snapped open in a panic.

"Felicity?"

"You don't remember? We told you but you were so out of it with the amount of electricity you had come in contact with."

"Felicity, what is it?" Oliver asked in confusion.

"You really don't remember." Felicity mumbled, almost to herself as she sat up. "Great. Well, I suppose someone will have to tell you again."

"What?"

"While you were busy getting electrocuted, Tommy struck again."

The way she said it, Oliver knew it was bad. It had always been bad before but there was a sadness in her eyes that Oliver had rarely seen. She had barely known Tommy but she knew the Tommy that Oliver had known: happy, carefree and mostly harmless. If Felicity looked like that, it had to be bad.

"How many, Felicity?"

"Nine last night." Felicity said softly, a tear falling from her eyes. "I know this weren't good people but he's just killing them all. He's just murdering them. No remorse, no warning, just death."

"We'll stop him." Oliver said firmly.

"We'd better. I got a call from Frank Pike last night after he had killed his seventh target. If we can't stop Tommy soon, the city police will change his status."

"Status?" Oliver asked in confusion.

"Currently, he is the most wanted person in the city. However, if we can't stop him, Pike will petition the federal government to allow for shoot on sight permissions. Oliver, if we can't stop Tommy, the city police will. Permanently."


	8. VII: Ra's al Ghul

The second Oliver heard about Tommy's most recent set of attacks, coupled with the news that Mayor Donner would be in the hospital for at least a week due to the amount of electricity that had run through his body, Oliver decided that everyone in the house had slept long enough.

Within twenty minutes, every member of Team Arrow, and the other house guests, had showered, dressed and came down to the Command Center for briefing.

"Thanks for being quick." Oliver started softly. "Also, thanks to those of you who don't normally meet for these kind of things."

"Oh, I'm curious to see how the almighty Oliver Queen runs a meeting." Laurel replied with a smirk.

"I don't." Oliver growled in return, knowing that Laurel still held many of the lies that he had told her against him. "I talk for a few minutes, do a quick briefing and then the conversation is started. I may be the public figurehead for this operation but 90% of this operation is done via group decision."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Laurel murmured.

Oliver had to fight the urge to roll his eyes as he shook off the disrespect from his ex-girlfriend. Oliver noticed that in the past, Felicity may have stuck up for him. Now, she sat silently and watched as Laurel started into him.

It was not the best of feelings.

"Anyway, there are two things I would like to discuss. The first is Tommy but we will get to him. The second...is more difficult for me."

"What is it?" Diggle asked, a look of concern Oliver rarely saw in his eyes.

"Over the last few days, I've been thinking a lot." Oliver stated. "However, I can't help but think that I was wrong about The League."

"What makes you think that?" Sara asked. "It made sense to me. Tommy is removing Tempest members who could potentially tip the authorities off about The League should they choose."

"Yes, but I wasn't certain." Oliver admitted. "Ever since I returned from the island, I've been exceedingly paranoid when it comes to protecting those I love. So, I took everyone in this room and I trapped you here based on a hunch."

"A hunch that could still come true." Sara reminded him.

"It could but if it does, we'll have plans in mind for when that day comes. I could be right but Ra's may not come to Starling for another month, year or ten. So, I'll work on a plan that could have us do something like this again when, or if, Ra's ever leads The League here. But for now, I am rescinding my request that you all stay here. Go back and live your lives but know that Queen Mansion will always be here as a safe place for you."

"Why are you doing this?"

Of course this was Felicity asking, as if she or they had done something to harm him. In fact, it was the opposite. They had all given up everything, especially Diggle, who had sent his wife and son out of the city to join the rest of the Team at Queen Mansion. But, Oliver couldn't keep them locked up in the dusty old mansion forever.

The way Felicity had asked the question, it had sounded like she felt that she had done something wrong. Oliver hoped that his reply could convey that nothing was further from the truth.

"I'm doing this because, while you all may be may allies, some more, some less, you're not my servants or slaves. You are your own people with your own lives that I have kept you out of. I would really like to know that we can protect Starling City and still allow the rest of you to have your own lives to go home to."

"What about you? You keep saying us but don't include yourself?" Felicity questioned him.

"My life is here, Felicity." Oliver answered simply. "If I'm not at QC, I'm here. So really, I wouldn't be doing anything different than normal whether or not you guys are here. But I must say that I do enjoy having the company."

"So what happens now?" Roy asked.

"Well, Roy, I would appreciate it if you, Diggle and Sara stuck around so we can talk about Merlyn. Thea, obviously you live here so that's that. The rest of you, feel free to go and enjoy the comfort of your own home for once."

With those words, Laurel quickly stood, grabbed her bag and walked out the door. Following her, Thea marched out of the room towards her own room. That left the four current members of Team Arrow and Felicity in the room. Quietly, Felicity turned to Oliver.

"Can I talk to you for a moment outside?" she asked hesitantly.

"Sure."

Swiftly, Oliver stood and followed the blonde out of the room. The moment they were outside of whispering distance from the rest of the Team, Felicity rounded on him.

"Did I do something to you?" Felicity asked sharply.

"Excuse me?" Oliver asked defensively.

"Roy, Sara and Diggle are asked to stay but I'm asked to leave?"

"You weren't asked to leave, Felicity." Oliver reminded her. "You were told that you didn't need to stay. I know that you didn't come back to Starling City to join this again. You've made that very clear to me and the rest of the team on numerous occasions."

At this point, Oliver realized that there was a small amount of bitterness slipping into his voice, something he desperately wanted to avoid. Sure, he did have issues with Felicity's desires to remain away from Oliver's secret life but he couldn't (and didn't) blame her for it. However, doing his best to avoid involving her in this was a constant struggle for him and her reaction to being left out was confusing to Oliver.

Hence the bitterness.

"You can stay." Oliver replied, doing his best to reset his voice. "Or you can go. But, per your own request, you are not a member of this little group anymore."

Oliver's heart broke as he watched the reaction Felicity had to his words. First, there was a look of anger but then it shifted into one of sadness. All Oliver wanted to do was reach out and hold her but she had also made it very clear that was never going to happen. Not like that.

"You're right, Oliver." Felicity answered, tears in her eyes. "I said I couldn't do this and I meant it. It was just nice being back for a little bit but I'm sure that sooner or later, something would have happened that would have reminded me why I left in the first place."

"Felicity..."

"It's not a problem, Ollie." Oliver cringed as she used the nickname she herself hated. Why she had chosen now to use it, Oliver hadn't the slightest clue. "If you need help here and there, don't be afraid to call me."

Slowly, Felicity propped herself up on her toes and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"I'll see you at work on Monday."

With that, Felicity returned to the Command Center to grab her things. Quietly, Oliver helped her as she collected the various items she had left strewn across the room. When that was done, she gave him a small smile and then turned and walked out of the door.

If Oliver was being honest with himself, he was getting tired of seeing her walk away from him and never towards him. Shaking himself from that depressing feeling, Oliver returned to the news room and sat back in the chair he had been seated in.

"Anyway, to the topic of the morning, Tommy." Oliver grunted. "He needs to be dealt with. I'm not sure that we're going to be able to stop him by conventional means. He comes up for air only to attack and then he disappears again and with several years of League training, he's pretty damn good at it."

"Very." Sara agreed. "I think we have to figure out where he's going when he disappears."

"Good luck with that." Diggle replied. "He's been going after one percenters and we still can't seem to find him on security footage for longer than a couple seconds. Even when he does stay still long enough to plan and pick his targets, I doubt he's stupid enough to leave clues as to where he's going."

"Would Tommy have some kind of emotional attachment to Starling?" Roy asked.

"Why?"

"Well, maybe he wants to be near those places. Like if I was coming back to Starling, I would want to be near here to be near Thea. If you did Oliver, you would probably do the same. Diggle would want to be near Big Belly Burger for Carly and wherever he lives now."

"I'm very happy I've kept that a secret." Diggle said with a grin.

"Point being that Tommy is still human and is probably slightly more emotional, considering the Mirakuru that was used on him. I know that I am. I can't say that it will affect him the same way it affected me but it seems likely."

"So we'd be looking at a place that is close to Tommy." Sara said softly. "Where would that be?"

"There's only one place it could be. Tommy was very close to his mother before she died. There's only one place in Starling that would remind him of her so strongly. Merlyn Manor, the house she built."

Merlyn Manor hadn't been able to be sold after Malcolm Merlyn's death. No one seemed to even want to live on the land of a genocidal mad man. So, the house for the years since The Undertaking stood empty. It would have made for a prime place for Tommy to disappear to much like Oliver did with Queen Mansion.

"So, we have a target or at least an idea of one." Roy stated. "Now, what do we do when we face him?"

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"Well, I know that the people that he's going after aren't exactly good people per se but they are people and he's murdering them. There's no other way to put it. Now, we may be able to bring him in but if he's back by The League's special brand of mania, he may not be in a place where we would be able to bring him in."

"What are you insinuating, Roy?" Oliver questioned harshly.

"If we can't stop him, if he keeps killing people, we may have to put him down for good."

"No." Oliver stated sharply. "Absolutely not. Tommy is not Slade. He's not going after all of Starling City. Like you said, he's going after people that I would have killed at the beginning of my reign as The Vigilante."

"But you're not The Vigilante anymore, Oliver." Diggle reminded him. "You left that moniker behind when you realized that wasn't the way to do things. You're the Green Arrow."

"Yes and unless absolutely necessary, The Green Arrow does not kill."

"So if he attacks me?" Sara asked. "What do you do then? Or Roy? Or Diggle? What about Felicity, Oliver? If she goes after her, you're going to try and arrest him."

Oliver sat in a silent rage at the direction this conversation was headed. More than anything in the world, Oliver did not want to kill Tommy Merlyn. He wanted to talk his friend away from The League and have him join him in saving Starling City. But he couldn't deny that his friends had a point. Tommy, trained, physically and mentally, by the League, could very well be gone.

"We do everything we can to bring him. We'll give him to Waller and let him redeem himself that way." Oliver said slowly. "However, if he cannot be stopped and he continues down this path,  _I_ will put him down. This is between me and Tommy and no one else is getting in the way."

* * *

Felicity was true to her word. She did see him at work on Monday.

For roughly six minutes.

That's how it was for the entire work week with Felicity coming up to Oliver's office, requesting him to simply sign a few forms or thing of that nature and then disappearing back to her office at the other end of the building. For Oliver, it made things tough. He knew that there were still a fair number of issues between the two of them that they needed to work out. He just wasn't sure how quickly to press on those things.

So, the week went by with barely an hour's time between the two. However, with the annual Robert Queen Memorial Charity Gala that Saturday, Oliver figured that he would see her there and at the very least, they would be able to spend some time together.

Oliver walked through the front door, late as usual, to the typical barrage of camera flashes and shouted questions. Ignoring them, Oliver made his way to the front of the room where a podium had been set up, waiting his arrival. Marching his way across the giant ballroom at the Starling Plaza Hotel, Oliver approached the microphone and spoke.

"Thanks to everyone for coming!" Oliver uttered loudly as the conversations in the room came to a halt. "This has been another great year for Queen Consolidated! The work that this company is doing is only making Starling City a better place. Hell, it's making America better!"

Not surprisingly, that comment got a rather hearty round of applause.

"We've introduced new policies and new personnel with my sister coming aboard as Chairman of the Board!" Oliver shouted, directing his attention to his sister who smiled with embarrassment. "There have been too many other things for me to list without boring you all to tears. Just know, that Starling City is Queen Consolidated's best client. This city has embraced our revival over the last three years with open arms and I would like to thank the city for that!"

Again, just like The President's State of the Union, necessary applause was deemed necessary.

"But, this event is called the Robert Queen Memorial Charity Gala for a reason." Oliver said, his voice turning serious. "My father was an inspiration for so many, myself and my sister included. When I returned after being ship-wrecked, I came to realize just how much this city was missing without my father and without his leadership. It was in his image that I modeled myself when I was needed to return to Queen Consolidated. It was in his image that I acted after The Undertaking and it's in his image that I act today."

More applause. Oliver wished they would just let him finish.

"All proceeds from tonight's event will go to Starling City Relief Fund, a charity devoted to bring the poor and downtrodden of Starling City back to the rest of the world. Let's have the rest of us, who have been blessed with good fortune, give back and help those who cannot help themselves! Thank you and have a wonderful evening!"

With that, the room exploded in applause. Oliver would find out that his little speech had led to almost ten million dollars being donated, a new record for the Gala. Once he stepped off the stage, he moved over to his sister, her face still red with embarrassment.

"I should kill you for doing that." she whispered to him.

"It's a family business, Speedy." Oliver replied with a grin. "And it's a public business. So, you needed to be introduced to the public."

"I'll introduce your face to my fist."

"Oh, I am frightened." Oliver said softly as he scanned the room. "Have you seen Felicity? I was going to introduce her but I could find her to point her out."

"Oh, she's not coming tonight." Thea said shortly.

"Excuse me?" Oliver shot back with fire in his eyes.

"Yeah, she said she's not really a people person and there was no one here that was going to buy any of her stuff so she stayed home tonight."

"Are you kidding me?" Oliver growled, almost to himself. "An executive vice president of the company doesn't think it's important to show up at a charity event that our company runs."

As he said this, he turned away from Thea. However, before he could get too far away, he felt a hand on his arm. Turning around, he saw that Thea had reached out for him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Thea asked in concern.

"I'm going to go talk to her." Oliver growled. "She doesn't get to make decisions like that. What if someone notices that she isn't here?"

"Then you'll explain that she's ill or something." Thea said softly. "As we both know, fibbing to people is something you do pretty well."

"That's not fair."

"I don't mean to make you feel bad for it but you know that you can do it." Thea said matter-of-factly. "Listen, stay for a couple hours, do the CEO thing. If you want to go chase after her then, be my guest."

For a couple seconds, Oliver thought. Slowly, he realized that Thea definitely had a better grasp on the situation that he did.

"I'm staying for an hour and then an important business matter is calling me away."

"Whatever you say." Thea replied, rolling her eyes as she walked away.

* * *

Two hours later, a very angry Oliver Queen left the Gala, got into his car and raced across town to the apartment that Felicity Smoak had returned to when she had come back to Starling. Oliver parked his car across the street, looking up into Felicity's window as he marched towards the building. Felicity's new job could have afforded her a much nicer apartment but Oliver knew that she preferred to more subtle surroundings of the campus area of Starling City.

As he entered the door and marched up the stairs, Oliver realized that he had never been inside her apartment before. For some reason, this seemed intimidating. Why Oliver couldn't be certain. As he reached her door, Oliver took a deep breath and lifted his hand to knock on the door when the door swung open in front of him with a very tense Felicity Smoak staring at him.

"Tracer on your phone is still active." Felicity said simply, holding up her tablet to let him know how she had known he was there. "You got across town pretty fast. Is something wrong? I thought you were supposed to be at the Gala."

For a moment, the number of words that Felicity had shot out had stopped Oliver's ability to talk. However, her mention of the Gala suddenly sparked his rage again. Taking a deep breath to avoid an outburst, Oliver spoke.

"May I come in?" he asked softly.

"Well, you're here." Felicity answered simply before turning around and walking back to the couch she had obviously just vacated.

Looking around, every bit of the apartment screamed Felicity Smoak. The amount of pink was almost frightening but everything was pieced together perfectly, giving the whole apartment a very warm feeling. The technology in the apartment was stunning with a bay of several top of the line desktops, several laptops and Felicity's normal array of tablets. The large TV on the wall was of the highest quality and held a show that Oliver didn't recognize before it was shut off.

Looking down at Felicity, Oliver felt some of the rage he had towards her disappear.

"Sit." Felicity offered, pointing to the other end of the couch.

"OK." Oliver choked out as he took a seat. For several seconds, the pair of them sat in silence before Oliver was finally able to formulate his next sentence.

"Why didn't you come tonight?" Oliver asked shortly.

Obviously, Felicity had expected this line of questioning. She took a deep breath before leaning back towards the arm of the couch, leaning backwards and staring up at the ceiling as she spoke.

"I wasn't essential, Oliver, and you know it. I don't do well with large crowds and I'm not a seller. I'm a designer. I design things and then we make them and they do their job, very well I might add."

"No one is disputing that." Oliver reminded her.

"Oh really?" Felicity asked as she shot up. "Then why would ever expect me to go to one of those things? I'm not your assistant anymore so my presence isn't needed."

"Maybe not." Oliver conceded. "But it is expected."

"What?"

"You're expected to be there, Felicity." Oliver informed her calmly. "You don't work in IT anymore. No one is expecting you there as my EA. You're a Vice President of a Fortune 500 company. Because of that, you are a member of QC's Executive Board. People don't come to these kind of events to talk to me, Felicity. They come to talk to Thea, to you, to anyone else who thinks they can get to my ear. They know that I'm the mover and shaker of this company but a situation like this is where they can get close to you."

Felicity's silence made Oliver feel terrible. He wasn't trying to scold her, despite what it sounded like. Unfortunately, that's all it sounded like.

"Your assistant, Chloe, by the time I left, had fielded at least seven attempts from people with significant representation about future business opportunities. That's the future of my company,  _my father's company,_ slipping away because you weren't there to-"

"Why don't you tell me what this is really about?" Felicity interrupted.

"W-w-what?" Oliver stuttered.

"I know that this isn't about business opportunities. QC, even without whatever these great opportunities were, is the fastest growing company in the country. Already a member of the Fortune 100, it could soon become the most profitable company in the world if we keep current pace. These are things that I know. I also know that you're not that concerned about business so cut the act and tell me what this is actually about."

Once again, Felicity's ability to see straight through him amazed him. Yes, he was upset about the lost business but he also knew that wasn't why he was mostly upset. Her knowingness had always amazed him but it was particularly stunning tonight.

"Alright." Oliver admitted. "You're right. The business would have been nice but that's not what I'm really upset about."

"I know." Felicity said with a soft smile.

"Of course you do." Oliver answered, rolling his eyes. "OK. Back before Slade, even before Malcolm, there were only three of us: you, me and Digg. We all maintained our illusions. I was the billionaire playboy philanthropist CEO, Diggle my driver and you my assistant. But it was never that. Not for one moment."

"Then what was it?" Felicity replied. "There certainly were times it felt like that."

"It probably did. In the beginning, this had been my vendetta. When I brought the two of you in, I still saw it as mine but I know now that I was wrong. This became all of ours. From that moment on, I saw it as a trio. Even with Sara and Roy joined, it was the three of us first. When it was the three of us was when we were most successful, when we were at our best."

"Yeah."

"So when we would go to those charity events or those stupid high society balls, the three of us were there. The best part was that we all  _hated_ going to those things." Oliver said with Felicity chuckling in agreement. "Now, you and Diggle could have let me go alone and suffer in solitude. But instead, you bit the bullet and went with me, the both of you. You acted as my assistants but I knew what it was: you were my friends, my partners. You were there making sure that I didn't blow my brains out going to those damn things."

"Oliver, I still don't really get why you're so upset." Felicity admitted, breaking his train of thought. "I get that I wasn't there and that disappoints you."

"It's not just that, Felicity." Oliver replied gently. "You being there was always a sign that the three of us, the original three, we were unbreakable. Together, we could never be defeated. But for two years, there was only two of us. Even now, you're back in the city but you aren't back. Slade broke that. Slade proved to me that we were breakable."

"Of course we were breakable." Felicity replied, tears forming in her eyes. "We loved each other. Diggle is like the older brother. You're...you're..."

"Me?"

"Something like that." Felicity said flippantly. "I know that you and Diggle are like brothers now and I know how you feel about me."

"We're a family."

"We are." Felicity agreed. "We still are but this family does something a bit more dangerous than most families do. Starling City needs The Green Arrow and will for awhile. I can't be selfish and get between you and the city."

"But Felicity, you are missing one thing." Oliver informed her. "Without Felicity Smoak, there is no Green Arrow. There's just The Hood, The Vigilante. After Tommy died, I left. You were the one that came and got me. You were the one that convinced me that I wasn't a murderer, that I could be a hero."

"Then that's my service to this city."

"No, to this day, you are my guiding star. When I have a moral decision to make, I ask myself what you would do and while I may not always make that choice, you're always there, influencing me. I need that. At the very least, I need your expertise. Sara and I do what we can but the two of us combined can't do what you do with your tablet alone."

"Oliver..."

"I'm not asking for an answer now." Oliver said softly, standing up from his seat. "But, I need you back at The Foundry tomorrow night and every night after that."

"Oliver..."

"Stop." Oliver whispered softly before leaning in and planting that same kiss on her cheek that she had the previous weekend. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

* * *

The following Monday, things were as tense as Oliver could ever remember at Queen Consolidated. Apparently, one of Oliver's assistants had scheduled him in meetings all day...with Felicity.

All day.

When Oliver had left Felicity's apartment Saturday evening, he had figured that she would realize that he was crying out for her to return to Team Arrow and to his life the way she had been before. He had hoped that she would remember all of the good things that the Team did and that she could be a part of that. As a result, Oliver had spent three hours before patrols waiting in the ArrowCave. Then, he kept his comm on for the entire length of his patrols, hoping to hear the voice of the blonde IT genius.

The voice never came. Sadly, Oliver had packed up and gone home, dreading a long week at work. Unfortunately, he had no real idea how long just Monday was going to be with Felicity's presence taunting him every moment of the day.

For nearly fourteen hours, the pair of them held court in Oliver's office, meeting with various investors, inventors and potential clients. It was boring and Oliver only understood about one in every four words that some of the inventors had said. Finally, at nearly ten o'clock, the last appointment shook Oliver and Felicity's hands and then walked out the door.

The moment he was gone, Oliver sank backwards into his chair, covering his eyes from the light of his office.

"Lights off." Oliver muttered to himself as the voice activated system did exactly what he asked.

For several seconds, Oliver sat in silence before he noticed that Felicity had very hurriedly gathering her things, obviously seeking to avoid any potential conversation. For just a split second, Oliver considered just letting her leave. However, his disappointment from the previous night came creeping back in and eventually, despite his fatigue, he couldn't help himself.

"Felicity."

"Can we not talk about this right now, Oliver?" Felicity whispered, knowing that Oliver's head was pounding.

"When will we talk about it?" Oliver challenged her. "You could have least called, texted, something to let me know you weren't coming."

"I never said I was." Felicity replied back softly, obviously wary of Oliver in his current mood.

"You had to have known that I would get my hopes up. You knew that would happen."

"I did." Felicity admitted.

"And nothing? No call, nothing?" Oliver shouted, causing Felicity to jump slightly. Realizing that the way he was acting was not alright, Oliver backtracked. "I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"No kidding."

"Anyway, I wasn't kidding when I said that I need you back." Oliver begged softly, his voice much gentler than usual. "But I'm not the only one. Diggle needs you back. Sara and Roy and Thea need you. We all need you."

"You've gone two years without me." Felicity answered without emotion. "Why now?"

"Because the two years was two years too long." Oliver said as he went to stand in front of the floor to ceiling windows that lined the one side of his office. "Because I should have chased after you when you left. The first thing I should have done was get on a plane and fly to Gotham."

"Yes, you should have." Felicity replied, her voice getting closer until suddenly, Oliver felt her hands grasp his shoulders and her head fall into the center of his back. Oliver would have given anything for this moment, this very second, to freeze forever. "Oliver, I still don't think you get it. This right here, this is all I want. All I want is to go home to you and Queen Mansion every night, to make dinner together and watch a movie while I fall asleep on your shoulder."

"Why can't we make that happen?"

"Because of what you do at night." Felicity replied simply. "Because I won't let myself be a target for anyone ever again."

"You work in this office, Felicity. You agreed to come home. There are just as many people that want to hurt Oliver Queen as want to kill The Green Arrow. It's common knowledge that we're friends."

"But nothing more." Felicity casually reminded him. "For Oliver Queen, if they're going after the ones he loves, they're going after Thea and Laurel, followed shortly by Sara. I'm a distant fourth place."

"I do like it that way." Oliver agreed. "Why can't you return to work at The Foundry? We could keep our day-to-day lives like they are now but you would show up at the ArrowCave at night."

For a second, Felicity, even though Oliver couldn't see her, considered his request.

"I can't, Oliver." she whispered softly, hot tears burning through Oliver's dress shirt.

"Why?"

"Because while more people may want to hurt Oliver Queen, Green Arrow's enemies are considerably more dangerous."

With that, Felicity broke away from Oliver, walking back towards her bag. As usual Felicity's timing was impeccable, because only seconds after she walked away from Oliver, an arrow crashed through the window in front of him, piercing him straight through his shoulder. Instantly and amazingly, despite the arrow through his shoulder, Oliver's only though was simple: protect Felicity.

As quickly as he could, Oliver regained his footing and fighting through the pain, Oliver raced to Felicity, dragging her behind his desk as another arrow flew through the window, this one piercing Oliver straight through his ankle. Just seconds after, Oliver heard another arrow hit just above the window on the outside of the building. Knowing what was coming, Oliver turned to Felicity.

"Get to the elevator." Oliver growled in pain.

"But, Oliver-"

**"NOW!"**

Seeing that Oliver wasn't in the mood to negotiate, Felicity stood and ran out of the room, ducking behind several columns to avoid future arrows that Oliver knew weren't coming. Also, based on the places that Oliver had been hit, he knew that this wasn't an attempt on his life.

It was a message.

Sure enough, a final crash through the window had Tommy Merlyn, complete in his father's attire, bursting through his window in front of him. Quickly, Tommy turned to Oliver and removed his mask, a bit of the Malcolm Merlyn mania showing on his face.

"Looks like you're having a bad day, Ollie." Tommy said mockingly.

"Attack me while I'm at work. Really classy, Merlyn."

"I'm not concerned with what you think is classy." Tommy replied shortly before taking a seat in Oliver's chair. "I'm here to warn you."

"I thought warning shots were...supposed to miss." Oliver answered, defiant to a fault. This little quip earned Oliver a smack in the face from Tommy's bow, his nose breaking under the force of the blow.

"These are warning shots, Queen, and you know it." Tommy shot back. "The next time, you'll find an arrow in your eye or your heart."

"So what's the warning from?"

"The Head of the Demon. He wants to tell you to let me do my work. If that happens, Starling City may be sparred from further actions by the League."

"Go to hell." Oliver fired back.

"So be it." Tommy said, standing as he spoke. "If you want your city to fall, it's on you."

Slowly, Tommy made his way back to the window, latching his bow onto his zipline before turning back to Oliver.

"Have yourself a wonderful day, Oliver."

Having said his piece, Tommy leapt onto his line, disappearing into the night. Having fought as much as he could, Oliver could barely hear the voices of Felicity and Diggle shouting his name as he passed out.

* * *

Once again, Oliver woke with a massive headache. He was starting to tire of consistently waking up with injuries that he could hardly remember sustaining. This time, however, he distinctly remembered how he got them.

"Oh good, you're awake." Felicity replied softly as she stood from her chair next to his cot. "Don't try and sit up."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Oliver mused with a painful grimace. "How bad?"

"You lost some blood, passed out, the usual. You did end up with a broken ankle."

"The arrow?"

"Went straight through the bone." Felicity replied with a smile as she sat again.

"Yeah, I can feel that." Oliver said, pain still gripping his body. He hadn't really been in this much pain since his encounter with Prometheus. Prometheus had been worse but he knew that Tommy had been playing with him. He could have made it worse if he wanted to.

That made the pain seem worse, Oliver was sure of it.

"How long was I out?"

"Just a few hours." Diggle replied as he approached the other side of the cot. "We were mostly concerned about the shot to the shoulder. It could have hit quite a few major arteries or tendons."

"It didn't hit any of them." Oliver said softly, almost to himself.

"It didn't." Diggle confirmed before turning to confusion. "How did you know?"

"Your right shoulder holds plenty of valuable arteries and tendons. There are only a few places to hit with an arrow that won't hit any of them. He did it intentionally."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Oliver repeated. "It was a warning. He just wanted me to know that he could have hit one of those if he wanted to."

"What about the one to the ankle?" Felicity asked.

"He probably just wanted me to stop moving." Oliver said, looking into Felicity's sad eyes. He looked deep into them and could see the fear that threatened to consume her if she didn't get it under control. Oliver could only hope that his next words would help her.

"What did you do after you left the office?"

"I called Diggle and then sealed the entire top floor." Felicity said, her voice shaking as if she was reliving the entire experience in her mind. "When Diggle arrive, we unlocked your door, got you to the secret elevator in the back of your office and then faked a gas explosion after we cleaned up your blood. According to CSU, you were never there. I faked messages to your assistants letting them know that you were leaving town for a few days but being intentionally vague as to where."

To say that Oliver was impressed would have been a cataclysmic understatement. She had done everything he had asked, expected and then more.

"Felicity, are you afraid right now?"

Her response was a simple teary shake of the head.

"Good." Oliver said, a pain shooting into his foot causing him to groan. "Were you afraid when it happened?"

"...yes." Felicity replied at such a low volume that it was barely audible.

"I figured. But, you fought that fear. You fought it and did exactly what I asked and then you saved me, both as The Arrow and as Oliver Queen. This is why I need you here, Felicity. Diggle couldn't have been in those meetings all day. Whether you were my EA or a VP, that is the cover that you bring. If you hadn't have been there, it is quite possible that I would have bled out."

"Tommy wouldn't have attacked if someone else hadn't been there." Felicity countered. "He would have wanted to know that you got out alive."

"Maybe but we can't really plan for that, can we?" Oliver explained. "Listen, I'm not asking you to come back for every single night of the week. I am asking you to be here when we take down the big dogs. First, so that I can bring Diggle out into the field without worrying about not having any intel. Secondly, because having you here makes everything so much easier out in the field."

Finally, the dam seemed to break. Felicity looked at him and smiled.

"I'll think about it."

That had not been the answer that Oliver had expected and he was certain that his face reflected that.

"Oliver, I can't say yes. Not yet. I'm still trying to get my life back in order." Felicity said as Diggle walked out of the room. "I'm still trying to figure out how to make our relationship work as Oliver Queen and Felicity. What can we be? How should we act in public? How should we act in private? Those are the questions I'm still trying to answer. Not that I've been great at even coming close to figuring them out but that's the plan, Stan. I can't do that and try and figure out The Green Arrow and IT Barbie at the same time."

For as sad as the news that she was still not certain about returning to the ArrowCave, Oliver was very happy to know that she was thinking about the two of them and not just ignoring that there was something very tangible between the two of them.

"OK." Oliver said as his phone started ringing across the room.

Not expecting a call so late, Oliver motioned for Felicity to hand him his phone. As he got the phone, he looked at it, not recognizing the number. For a brief moment, he considered not answering it. But, by some form of cosmic magnetism, he decided to answer.

"Oliver Queen." Oliver said firmly, doing his best to ignore his injuries. "May I ask you this is?"

_"You may. That does not mean that I will tell you. Not yet anyway."_

The cryptic nature of that answer concerned him. Deciding that he wasn't playing games, Oliver pressed forward.

"If you won't tell me wh-"

_"How is the shoulder? I hear you've been dealing with a rather piercing pain there."_

Instantly, alarms went off inside Oliver's head. Quickly, he hit the speak button so that everyone in the room could hear the conversation.

"Who are you?"

 _"And the ankle? My associate tells me that you were blessed with only a broken bone there."_ the mystery caller said. The voice had a vaguely foreign air to it but Oliver couldn't seem to place the accent

"I'm serious. You had bett-"

_"Or what, Mr. Queen, you'll kill me? A couple of years ago, perhaps, but I've heard from my associate that you gave that up after his death."_

His associate? Oliver wasn't sure why he didn't hear it the first time. Maybe the shock of the mystery caller had shut off his brain. Maybe his injuries were preventing him from thinking clearly. Either way, this man was clearly talking about Tommy.

But not just talking about Tommy. He was talking about Tommy as an associate. Someone he worked with.

Or someone Tommy worked  _for._

"Ra's al Ghul?"

For a moment, the line stayed silent. Then, Oliver heard a dry chuckle.

_"Very perceptive, Mr. Queen. I must say that I expected you to be quicker on the take. Ta-er al-Asfer spoke very highly of your skills during her time here."_

Ta-er al-Asfer was Sara's name during her time with The League. Obviously, she had spoken with Ra's during her time there. Either way, Ra's al Ghul, international criminal mastermind, calling him was not a good thing.

"What can I do for you, Ra's?" Oliver asked, trying to keep an even tone.

_"It's what you could have done for me, Green Arrow. I sent Thomas to you with a warning: let him complete his mission or Starling City would face the wrath of The League of Assassins."_

"His mission is to kill people."

_"Guilty people, Mr. Queen. The League of Assassins is not named The League of Genocide. We believe in small, precise steps to gain the improvement we seek. We do not condone the actions of these people, these who would destroy Starling City to save it."_

"That sounds like your plan, Ra's. What makes you different?" Oliver questioned harshly.

_"We do not wish to kill all. We will make very small, tactical moves to take control of the city. Once we have that control, we will save this city and model it into the image of perfection before we move on to other sinful cities."_

"You'll never get to another city." Oliver growled. "We will stop you."

_"You and what army, Mr. Queen? We know that ARGUS will not side with you. In fact, we imagine they will simply try and level the city again. The last time you needed to stand against an army, you used mine."_

"It doesn't matter. Come hell or high water, we will stop you."

_"Hell it is then, Mr. Queen. I have no quarrel with you. Leave Starling City to its own devices and we will save it. If you get in my way, your city will pay the price."_

With that, the line went dead. Instantly, Oliver turned to Felicity.

"Call everyone in. Now." Oliver said, pain fighting to knock him unconscious again.

"Who's everyone?"

"Anyone left that knows my secret."

"What about-"

"Yes, Felicity, her too."


	9. VIII: Lance

Oliver, knowing that the ArrowCave's location was known to The League of Assassins, had decided to move the team's meetings away from there. Thankfully, everyone that knew his secret was related to Oliver Queen in some way. This allowed Oliver to cover the meetings up as a simple family get together. Oliver and Diggle, Diggle being with Oliver almost around the clock now, were the first to arrive at Oliver's penthouse. Almost instantly after the pair arrived, Diggle's wife Lyla appeared with their young son, Andrew. While Lyla wasn't really interested in joining Oliver Queen full-time, they did ask for her help in times of need.

This was certainly one of those times.

Next was Thea and Roy, looking very confused as to why they were having their clandestine meetings in broad daylight in the middle of a famous penthouse in Starling City.

Sara and Laurel arrived after them with Laurel still looking mildly disgusted to be in the company she was in, her sister included. Thankfully for Oliver, her devotion to her city outweighed her dislike for anything related to Oliver and Sara.

Felicity came in the room quietly, approaching him nervously.

"She's parking her car and will be up soon."

"Thanks, Felicity." Oliver said, placing his hand on her arm. "I know how hard this was for you."

"The hard part hasn't even started yet." Felicity muttered before walking away. Sure enough, just seconds later, there was a knock on the door. Taking a deep breath, Oliver moved towards the door and opened it.

Standing in the doorway was a very tired and extremely confused Moira Queen.

"Thanks for coming." Oliver said, fumbling over what exactly he wanted to say next before deciding to say nothing and motion for Moira to enter the room. Following Oliver's lead, Moira entered the large living room, taking a seat separated from the rest of the room.

With her entrance, the group was complete and Oliver spoke to begin the meeting.

"Gathered in this room is everyone in Starling City who knows my identity and the identities of those that I work with." Oliver said firmly, looking to give off a very authoritative vibe to begin. "Within the next few weeks, we could be all that stands between Starling City and complete destruction."

Seeing that no one in the room seemed surprised or ready to interrupt, Oliver continued.

"Last night, I was contacted by a man known as Ra's al Ghul. Ra's is the head of a group of international...terrorists known as The League of Assassins. Worldwide, their methods vary but their goal is always the same. They seek to take cities and countries they have determined to be broken and fix them. Most of you know all of this. You've heard it from me or from Sara in the past."

Sitting at the chair at the front of the room, Oliver rubbed his temples before looking up to speak to the room again.

"As we know, Tommy Merlyn has been back in Starling, assassinating former Tempest members. For the longest time, we thought they were being punished for their involvement in The Undertaking. However, before we bunkered down at Queen Mansion, I realized that was not their goal."

"What was?" Roy asked.

"An invasion. Maybe not a strictly military one, although I may have changed that. They seek to come to Starling City and replace important figures in the city with members of The League. That's why Tommy was sent. Tempest members probably have at least a limited knowledge of The League. Without them here to warn the city, Ra's could enter the city unchecked."

"Until you started going after Tommy." Sara continued.

Oliver nodded. "Yes, I haven't done a good job in stopping him but we have made things harder for him. My, our, intervention complicates things for The League. With my presence, both as Queen and Arrow, we can stop The League from infiltrating the city."

"You said that you changed his plans." Thea mentioned. "How?"

"Last night when he called, I was offered a chance to stand aside. Basically, if I allow Ra's to take over the city, myself and my allies would be spared."

"Which we can't allow." Felicity added.

"Obviously." Oliver said with a grin. "So, this is your one chance. If you want, stand up and walk out of the room. Get on the first place out of here and never come back. This is going to be an uphill battle if there ever was one. We're fighting an army of trained assassins with only those of us in the room. So no one will think poorly of you but if you want to go, do it now."

As he said this, Oliver's eyes couldn't help but focus on Felicity's. The intensity they held was remarkable. For several seconds, Oliver and Felicity locked eyes as the rest of the room froze around him. When Oliver was sure that no one was going anywhere, Oliver stood, a smile on his face.

"We're all in this together." Oliver said confidently. "No one takes any unnecessary risks and we work together. We do that and Starling City will stay safe from The League."

"So what now?" Lyla asked softly.

"Now, you go home." Oliver said over a chorus of questions beginning. "I know that I said I wanted us all together before but I have realized that may be a poor plan. More than likely, whenever Ra's does get here, his first target will be us and if he finds all of us in the same place together, that's shooting fish in a barrel."

"What are we doing instead?" Laurel questioned him.

"You go to work, you come home and you go  _nowhere_ else." Oliver said, emphasizing the nowhere. "You keep your phone charged and ready at all times. If you see my name or Felicity's or Diggle's, you make up whatever lie you need to, you answer your phone and you follow the instructions on the other end of the line. Are we clear?"

Around the room, there was a consensus of muttered yeses and nodded heads.

"Good. Now, go home and always be ready."

Quickly, almost everyone vacated the apartment with Oliver, Moira, Diggle and Sara remaining behind. Oliver gave Diggle and Sara a very strong look of dread before approaching his mother.

"Thanks again." Oliver said softly. "I wasn't sure if you would come."

"The second Ms. Smoak mentioned Tommy Merlyn and The League, I knew that I had no choice. I may have not been the best mother-"

"Understatement." Oliver muttered softly.

"I know, I know, I wasn't the best mother but I'm not going to let Ra's al Ghul come and take my children away from me if I can do something to stop him."

"Well, good." Oliver said simply. "Go back to your hotel. I still don't want you returning to Queen Mansion and I doubt Thea and Roy would be any happier to have you there. Stay at your hotel and wait for instructions."

"Fine." Moira responded tersely before walking out of the room. As she did, Sara approached him gently.

"You didn't have to be so hard on her, Ollie." Sara said softly, leaning into his arm softly.

"She deserves worse." Oliver replied, venom spewing from his lips. "If I didn't need her knowledge of The League from an outsiders perspective, I would have left her to rot in Central City."

"Well, when this is all over, she can go back then." Diggle said as he approached him. "Do you need anything else?"

"Go home and be with Lyla." Oliver said with a smile. "Tell her I said thanks for coming."

"Will do." Diggle replied as he walked out of the room, leaving Oliver and Sara there alone.

"So what happens now, Ollie?" Sara asked softly, taking a seat on the couch.

"I'm not sure." Oliver replied as he sat next to Sara. "We don't have the manpower to take on The League and if we can't catch up to Tommy, your dad is going to have to start a manhunt for us again."

"Yeah."

For the next hour or so, the two simply sat on the couch and chatted about various things in their lives. Oliver knew that Sara appreciated these times with him especially since he was normally so closed off from the rest of the world. For some reason, talking just wasn't something that Oliver wanted to do most of the time.

However, the conversation eventually took a turn to where it always went with the two of them.

"So is she back full-time?"

"No." Oliver said shortly, hoping to avoid this conversation.

"Oliver, if you don't talk to someone about her, you're going to go nuts."

"I've been doing just fine on my own."

"You haven't." Sara argued. "For two years, you hardly talked to any of us. You didn't laugh. You were destructive and held a rage that threatened to destroy you or maim the men you were fighting. But she shows up and while you're still moody as hell, you talk. You smile every once in a while. Hell, I think I heard you make a joke the other day."

"What's the point of all this, Sara?"

"You two need to get your shit together, that's the point." Sara replied callously. "Dig, Roy and I watch the two of you. You know that, right?"

"Yes." Oliver said, all too aware of their game when Felicity made her visits to wherever his team was meeting that day.

"Well, the two of you have this exceedingly stupid habit of staring at each other for like ten minutes and then turning away the second the other looks. You will literally do this all night."

"I'm aware."

"Then why the hell won't you do something about it?"

"You don't get it, do you?" Oliver replied, an exceedingly harsh tone creeping into his voice. "You think that I stare at her because she's some unattainable prize, something far away that I can't reach. That's not the issue, Sara. Quite the opposite, in fact. I stare because she's right there. She shouldn't be. She left because she couldn't handle what was I was willing to do for her. I intended to give my life for hers that night. You know what that's like, right? With your father or Laurel? You would do that. I sat in Verdant and let Slade pummel me half to death just to save her."

"I don't get where you're going with this, Ollie."

"She couldn't handle it because she cares about me too. She  _loves_ me too. But just like I was willing to give my life for her, she's unwilling to let me do that. She won't let herself be the reason that Starling City is left without its protector. So, for as much as I love it, The Green Arrow's very existence prevents Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak from every being a thing."

Standing up, Oliver started pacing the room. Finally, he stopped and turned back to Sara, a look of madness on his face.

"She is all I have ever wanted! But I can't abandon an entire city for my own love! I can't be that selfish! So, until I'm old and broken and gray, Felicity Smoak can never be mine and by then, she will have hopefully forgotten about me and found someone who can make her happy while she's still young and vibrant."

"You don't want that."

"Of course I don't fucking want that, Sara!" Oliver shouted. "I want her to love me, which she does! I want her to want me, which she does! But those are the two things she will not allow herself to do! Above all else, she's not going to be with me."

Sara took a breath to respond. However, before a word could exit her mouth, a loud crash echoed through the penthouse. Looking towards the front door, Oliver saw that the door had been kicked square off its hinges with two Assassins pouring into the room. Instantly, Oliver and Sara were up, each of them taking one.

The moment his target Assassin stepped towards him, Oliver leapt forward, throwing a destructive right haymaker that connected with the Assassin's jaw. Instantly, Oliver could feel the Assassin started to weaken beneath the force of his fist. Reaching over, Oliver grabbed the fireplace poker from the hearth and turned back to the Assassin who had warily drawn his sword.

Quickly, Oliver assaulted the man, countering a quick high jab with a crushing swing at the Assassin's left knee. A grunt of pain escaped the lips of the Assassin as he dropped to his knee. Lifting his sword, The Assassin blocked Oliver's overhand attack.

Unfortunately for this Assassin, Oliver Queen was just better than him in every way, shape and form. When the Assassin blocked that attack, Oliver countered with a spinning backhanded swing of the poker aimed directly at the Assassin's ribs.

The shot landed cleanly and Oliver could instantly both hear and feel the man's ribs break under the force of the blow. With that done, Oliver spun back the opposite direction, striking his attacker with a spinning attack to the head. The poker hit solidly and knocked the Assassin out cold.

Turning around, Oliver saw that Sara was being choked by her own attacker. Grabbing the poker by the middle, Oliver threw it across the room like a spear. The poker-spear struck Sara's attacker directly in the head, going straight through, making his head look like a kabob. Instantly, his body collapsed in a heap of dead meat and blood.

Jumping over the couch, Oliver went to Sara.

"Are you ok?"

Sara nodded her head in confirmation.

"Why would Ra's send Assassins to us?"

"He's threatened by us." Sara replied roughly. "He wanted us out of the way before he started his assault on Starling. He's got to be coming soon."

"Good." Oliver replied darkly before standing and marching back across the room to his fallen opponent. Grabbing the man's sword, Oliver slapped the man in the facing, waking him instantly with his own sword in Oliver's hand, pointing directly under his throat.

"Why did Ra's al Ghul send you?"

"I will never talk, vigilante." the assassin said defiantly.

"We'll see about that." Oliver said before reaching down and grabbing the other fire poker in the set of two. With a quick swing, Oliver struck the fallen Assassin in the ribs again, causing the man to grunt in pain. "I see they trained you in pain tolerance. You're doing a pretty good job."

Again, Oliver struck the man in the ribs, this time choosing the other side, causing those to break as well.

"Do you want to end up with ribs or dust? It's your call. Now, Ra's sent you to kill us. Did he send any others?"

"You will die, Queen."

"Your loss." Oliver said softly before rotating to the side of the man and swinging the poker down on the man's throat. Instantly, the man reached for his neck, croaking and gasping for air.

"That didn't quite collapse your windpipe." Oliver taunted the assassin. "Any harder, however, and you'd find it quite hard to live without a hospital, which is somewhere I'm not taking you. Now, did he send any others?"

"No." the man grunted.

"No. Did he send any to any other members of my team?"

"No."

"Good. You're learning. Now, how many of you are in the country?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." the Assassin taunted.

Instantly, Oliver wielded the poker again, crushing the man with six successive strikes to the ribs, finally causing the man to scream out in pain.

"Oliver." Sara said softly behind me.

"How many of you are there?"

"Around one hundred."

"Good. When are you planning to attack?"

"I hope you rot in hell, vigilante."

Again, Oliver attacked. This time, he simply stepped on the man's throat, causing the man to choke and grab for Oliver's foot.

"OLIVER!" Sara shouted behind him.

"What!?" Oliver growled.

"Is this what you've become now?"

Suddenly, Oliver realized just how far he had gone. He took his foot off the man and put the poker back where it belonged. Turning back to Sara, he spoke to her.

"No, it's not." Oliver said softly. "Can you take him down to the SCPD?"

"What do I say to Dad?"

"He's an Assassin and the Arrow beat the shit out of him."

"I think he'll believe that."

* * *

On my Monday morning, Oliver attempted to make the day as normal as possible. He walked into the building, ignoring his assistants like he always did and rode up the elevator with Diggle to his office like he always did. However, he knew that he had things on his mind that simply wouldn't let it be a normal day. Only two days after Tommy had attacked him, another set of Assassins had tried to kill Sara and him. Plus, the broken ankle Tommy had given him hadn't been fully healed and Oliver had aggravated it during the fight, putting him on crutches.

However, he knew things were going to be difficult when Samuel approached him only seconds after he entered his office which was totally out of the ordinary.

"Samuel?"

"Mr. Queen, I have cancelled several of your appointments this morning. Bruce Wayne has an open conference call that he would like you to join."

"That's good." Oliver said warily. "Do you know who the other participants are?"

"Yes, Mr. Queen, a forensic scientist from Central City and a reporter from Metropolis." Samuel replied, an alarm going of inside Oliver's head. "Apparently, the reporter is doing a story on the increase in the cost of forensic science over the last few years. He's speaking to the scientist about why more money is needed and then you and Wayne for thoughts as businessmen who are responsible for developing these technologies."

"Thank you, Samuel." Oliver replied with a smile. "I will take the call in here. Under no circumstances are you to enter without emailing me first."

"Of course, Mr. Queen." he said as he walked out of the room.

The second Samuel was out of the room, Oliver accessed his video-conferencing software and saw that he had a request to join a conference call. Clicking the accept icon, Oliver's face quickly lit up the screen before shrinking in the corner to reveal the faces of Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen and...

"You." Oliver said shortly.

The reporter from Metropolis was the man from the video. The man who flew in from the edge of the screen, picked up a stalled vehicle and lifted it out of the way of a train all in less than a second.

"Good to see you, Queen." Wayne growled menacingly. "The rest of us get to work on time."

"I broke my ankle a couple days ago. Moving around has been a challenge." Oliver said quickly before redirecting. "Can I get just a hint as to what's going on?"

It was the mystery man that answered him.

"Yes, Oliver, you can. My name is Clark Kent and I am a reporter from the Daily Planet."

"Cut the bullshit."

"Ah, yes, I figured you might say that." Kent said with a smile. "You also know me as the "super-man" from the video. I try as often as I can to avoid being caught on camera but sometimes, it is simply inevitable."

"What are you?" Wayne grumbled.

"That's a loaded question, Bruce. I spent my youth living in Smallville, Kansas. However, it's not where I was born."

"And where was that?" Barry asked.

"Krypton."

"Never heard of it." Oliver replied quickly.

"You wouldn't have. It no longer exists and was 50 light years away from Earth."

That sentence alone made Oliver's heart either beat 600 times per minute or stop. He wasn't sure.

"Excuse me?"

"Is it really so hard to believe, Oliver?" Kent asked softly. "You are known to be friends with CSI Barry Allen, a man who due to freak circumstance gained the ability to run faster than any other object on Earth. You have two billionaires who moonlight as nighttime saviors of their cities. Is a alien from a dying planet so much harder to believe?"

"Yes." all three other men agreed instantly before Oliver continued. "Not that we don't believe you. The proof is there but I have to ask: why are you here? Because once I saw the video, my first reaction was to call Bruce and Barry and talk about an alliance of sorts to protect people from someone like you."

"I am here because my planet was dying and my parents sought to see me survive." Clark replied simply. "So, they sent me here. For nine months, I floated across the galaxy until I landed here in Kansas. I am here to help, that's all I seek. In fact, I will give each of you the ability to stop me so that should there ever be a day where you need to protect the people from me, you will be able to do so."

Oliver's head was spinning. While he still wanted to see Kent in person to make sure this isn't some kind of hoax, Oliver couldn't help but believe the man-or alien, whichever he really was. To think that there was life out in the cosmos and that they had the power of someone like the "super-man," it simply stunned Oliver.

"So what's this call really about then?" Barry asked shortly.

"Queen has been having problems with The League of Assassins, a group of international terrorists led by Ra's al Ghul." Wayne said sharply. "We are here to discuss forming a league of our own..."

For the next two hours, the four super-men had a rotating conversation about the merits and fears of creating a team of two mortals and two metahumans. While nothing was decided, the groundwork and initial conversations were certainly encouraging. However, it was decided that, for the time being, each hero would stick to their own city with no crossovers of any kind.

* * *

For some reason, even after the conversation of the day and the decision they had all made to tell no one else (including any potential partners-in-crime they had) about their conversation today, Oliver had no real desire to go to either of his homes. Thea and Roy had sort of claimed Queen Mansion as their own over the years, not that Oliver minded. Plus, he knew that Moira was likely to show up there on occasion over the next few weeks and Oliver wanted to avoid seeing her for as much as possible until he no longer needed her.

So, when Oliver showed up at his penthouse, having been dropped off by Diggle, he was surprised to see Sara already there.

"As much as I am glad to see you, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I figured that since you're still out of commission because of the ankle, I would stay in tonight and hang out with you."

"That's really ok."

"No, it's not." Sara replied softly. "I've seen what you do when you have time to be alone and mope."

"Hasn't seemed to bother you for the last two years."

"She may make you happy, Oliver, but knowing that she's close but not here is worse and I know it."

"You're right." Oliver said as he finally sat next to her on the couch. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, the Starling City Cosmos are playing tonight. How does basketball sound?"

"Sounds fine to me."

"Good."

For the next hour, the pair of them watched the Cosmos play, alternating between talking about their respective days at work and the game. At halftime, pizza came and the pair shared a meal that either of them rarely allowed themselves to have, both being obsessed about making sure their bodies remained in top shape.

However, as the game neared its end, Sara suddenly had a serious question.

"Do you think you'll ever settle down?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I can't see myself doing it." Sara admitted. "I spent my youth being rebellious and free and I've spent the rest of my life being an Assassin. I just don't seem like I'd be able to stop all that and get married."

"I can understand that." Oliver said quietly, thinking to himself. "I want to, you know. I always wanted to with Laurel but I was afraid. I was afraid of her and afraid of the responsibility. But you're right. I spent most of my youth being rebellious and free and now I'm the Arrow."

"Not exactly conducive to family life, is it?"

"Not really." Oliver admitted. "I don't think it's impossible. John and Lyla pull it off."

"I'm not entirely convinced that either of them are actual human beings either." Sara said with a smile.

"Fair point." Oliver replied before being reminded of something Sara had once said. "We're both ghosts. We died on that island."

"What?"

"Right after you returned to Starling, that's what you told me. I told you that it wasn't true and when it comes to our biological families, that's probably true. However, trying to find someone that can deal with the darkness that we deal with, I don't put good odds on that."

"You found someone." Sara reminded him. "I know that it hurts, Oliver, but she knows that darkness. She looks at it every time you put that suit on and she still loves you."

"And I love her." Oliver admitted. "More than life itself, I love her. But she told me the other day that she's still just trying to figure out how Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak work together. She can't be doing that and figuring out, I believe her words were  _The Green Arrow and IT Barbie_ , at the same time."

"She'll figure it out someday."

"God, I hope so."

For the last hour of their night, the conversation returned to the light fare of the rest of the evening. Oliver sat and thought just how lucky he was to have someone like Sara, even if they could never be an item. She was someone who stared death in the face, just like him. She had been through hell and back more times that he could count, just like him. But in the end, her family came first and she would do anything for them, just like him.

Sara had never intended to stay in Starling City, Oliver knew that. She may not have returned to The League but once she knew her family was safe, she would have left again, checking in every few months or years or however often she decided she needed to. Thankfully, Oliver was able to convince her to stay. She had played a big part in Oliver's ability to finally defeat Slade and had been one of his only anchors after Felicity had left.

Unlike most the other people in his life, Sara Lance had always been there for him. Surprising as it was, almost everyone else had left him at some point. He and Diggle had fought over Laurel. Laurel alternated between loving and hating Oliver. Felicity had loved Oliver so much that she had left him. Roy abandoned Oliver when things became too much. Thea had been infuriated at Oliver over the news that Malcolm Merlyn had been her father.

While she may have stepped away for a second before Slade attacked Starling City, she returned with help.

Through it all, Sara Lance and The Canary had been there for Oliver Queen and The Green Arrow.

How incredibly lucky he was.

* * *

A week later, Oliver was in the midst of his first night back as The Green Arrow after recovering from Tommy's attack. It had been a good night so far. Oliver had stopped a drug ring, two muggings, an attempted sexual assault and had discovered more information on the weapons that Councilman Bolt had been bringing into town.

However, during his last fight, he had broken through the stitches in his ankle and was forced to return to The ArrowCave to redo them. As he arrived, he saw that Diggle had just arrived for the evening. Due to his new duties as a father, Diggle frequently arrived later than the rest of the team and was rarely assigned patrols. In the wake of Ra's al Ghul's threat, however, Diggle had been given a short patrol each night and was preparing for it as Oliver entered the foundry. Before Oliver could get started, Diggle slipped away to the locker room to change into his own gear of the night.

Also present was Thea and Felicity who were doing something on the computer that Oliver had no time for or interest in.

That was until midway through the last set of stitches when Felicity interrupted him.

"Oliver, I think you need to come see this." she said softly.

"Give me a second." Oliver said as the needle pierced his ankle for the last time.

"Work quick." Thea replied urgently.

Finishing the stitching, Oliver quickly wrapped the wound before replacing his boot and hobbling over to the computer bay. Despite being back in action, Oliver still wasn't at 100% so he hoped this was nothing too terrible.

Misplaced hope, unfortunately.

As Oliver approached the computers, he could tell that something was wrong based on the look on Felicity's face. Felicity was many things but confused was not one of them. This was a face of confusion.

"Felicity?"

"All night, I've been tracking someone inside the city's utility network. All night, they've been accessing parts of the system. Water, gas, electricity, all of it."

"So what are they doing?" Oliver asked with concern.

"Absolutely nothing. They will access the system, filter through some setting changes and then back out before entering another system and doing the same thing. They make no fundamental changes, sometimes they make no changes at all. I just don't get it."

"Could they be planning something?" Thea asked softly. "And they're testing the waters to see what the reaction is."

"SCPD isn't known for having a killer cyber-crimes division. It would be fairly easy pickings if they wanted to hack the system right now."

"Yet, they're not." Oliver said before having a frightening thought pop into his head. "They're taunting you, Felicity."

"What?"

"You're in the system, right? That's how you can see this." Oliver asked with suspicion.

"Of course. I've been in this system for day one."

"Well, whoever this is, I think they know that." Oliver replied. "I think they know you're in the system and they're taunting you. Have you been able to stop them?"

"I haven't tried, to be perfectly honest."

"Try now." Oliver ordered.

Instantly, Felicity turned and attacked the computer with a vigor that still impressed Oliver to this day. For several minutes, she worked in silence, only occasionally grunting to express her dissatisfaction for something. Suddenly, the screen on her computer flickered.

"Oh no." Felicity uttered softly.

"What?" Thea asked.

"You were right." Felicity confirmed. "They were taunting me. While one person was hacking into the system's main hub attracting my attention, they had another hacker, someone better. That person was going into the under levels of the same program and creating a failsafe. Basically, they can give the system a code and the whole system will shut off at once or in three parts: gas, water, electric."

"They have control of the system now?" Oliver asked fearfully.

"Yes. I can hack in but they're constructed a rather impressive firewall around their own mainframe. I can get in but it may take me a couple hours."

"Meanwhile..."

"Yes, they have control of the city's utilities."

As if their opponent could hear Felicity's words, the power around them disappeared for a second before flickering back on.

"Oliver-"

"Is it the whole city?" Oliver asked in a hurry, replacing his hood as he prepared to go out once more.

"Yes." Felicity said softly. "Every circuit that isn't hooked up to a back-up generator is dead."

"Great." Oliver growled.

Quickly, Oliver turned and marched towards the stairs. However, before Oliver could even get to them, Felicity once more got his attention.

"OLIVER!"

"What?" Oliver gasped as he turned around.

"I'm monitoring the police frequency. They've already received reports of attacks on the GCPD Administration Building, Queen Tower and Starling Plaza."

"Any idea by who?" Oliver asked, although he had an idea of who it was.

"Police reports say that the man attacking the GCPD building has a very strong similarity to-oh no."

"To who!?" Oliver shouted.

Turning around slowly, Oliver saw that tears were now streaming down Felicity's face. Rarely was Felicity confused. But due to her confidence in Oliver, even more rarely was she scared.

And Felicity Smoak was scared. He could see it in her eyes. She was terrified, in a way that Oliver had never seen her before. Instantly, Oliver dropped to his knees in front of her, placing her hands in his.

"Felicity. Felicity, Felicity, Felicity," Oliver said, her name speeding up each time he said it. "Felicity, who is it? Who does he bear a resemblance to?"

Felicity looked up, her eyes meeting his. However, the fear in her eyes disappeared turning into something else Oliver rarely saw.

Rage.

"Slade. He looks like Slade Wilson."

Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. That couldn't be possible. While Oliver wasn't certain that Slade had died during their fateful battle, there was no way that he could be back. Not so soon.

However, Oliver soon felt his own fear slip away to mirror Felicity's rage.

"Put him away, Oliver." Felicity said, tears and rage pouring out of her. "Put him in the ground."

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked her.

"Absolutely."

"Wait a minute!"

That was Thea's voice as she continued to monitor the computers. Obviously, she had found something of interest.

"The police are now reporting identities for those behind the two other attacks."

"Who?" Oliver asked. Thea sat and listened for a second before answering.

"They're describing members of The League of Assassins at Queen Tower and The Dark Archer at the Starling Plaza."

This was it. Oliver had feared that The League would attack but again not so soon. How had they enlisted Slade's help when no one knew whether Slade was dead or alive? Either way, Oliver could not stop now. He had to defend his city.

"Felicity, call the rest of the Team. I am going to Queen Tower to confront whoever is leading the group there. When Diggle is ready to go, send him and Roy to the SCPD to face Slade. He's had the Mirakuru removed from him. He'll be good but I'm confident in the two of them. Tell them to try and bring him in alive, if possible."

"What?" Felicity roared.

"Before, when it was just Slade, he could die." Oliver reasoned. "If he's working for The League, we need to know why."

For a second, Oliver thought that Felicity was going to try and kill him. However, she finally backed down and nodded in agreement.

"Send Sara after Tommy. Again, tell her not to kill him."

"I'll try. You know what she gets like sometimes when people go after her."

"I know but she also fights best against other members of The League." Oliver said optimistically. "Tell her to bring Tommy in. I want to talk some sense into him."

"More like beat some sense in him." Thea muttered softly.

"If talking won't work." Oliver said with a smirk before once again replacing his hood. "It's show time, people. Let's save our city."

* * *

Once Oliver left the ArrowCave, he turned his comms on. Doing his best to sound confident, Oliver spoke.

"Check in."

_"Arsenal and Hood, en route to SCPD Admin."_ Diggle barked into the comm.

_"Canary, two minutes away from the Plaza."_

"Good. Bring Slade and Tommy in alive if you can."

_"I still think that's a bad idea."_ Roy barked over the comm.

"Just trust me."

_"Fair enough."_

With that, the line went dead just as Oliver's motorcycle pulled into the back entrance of Queen Tower. Cutting the engine, Oliver quickly raced into the secret entrance he had installed into the back of his private elevator, allowing him to circumvent all the building's security. Quickly, Oliver rose to the top of the building, knowing that whichever member of The League had attacked Queen Tower and taken the building not for its resources but for its name.

They were attacking Oliver Queen. A mistake they would only get to make once.

When the elevator stopped, Oliver charged out of the car and into his office only to be stunned by its occupants. While he had expected a battalion of Assassins, instead only two people occupied the room.

The first Oliver had met before. She was a beautiful and exotic woman who had loved one his compatriots. Her name was Nyssa al Ghul.

However, she was old news compared to the man who sat in Oliver's chair.

His name was Ra's al Ghul, Head of the Demon and Leader of The League of Assassins. He was an aged man, probably somewhere in his fifties, with an aristocratic air about him. He had a graying goatee that was trimmed short and short black hair with specs of white, brown and gray. Surprisingly, his attire was noticeably different from the rest of The League. He wore modern clothes, entirely in black with one of the cleanest suits Oliver had ever seen.

But above all else, it was the eyes that distinguished him from other men. While other men may have had a warm or light in their eyes, his held none. His eyes were cold and dark and contained a mania that Oliver had once recognized in the eyes of Slade Wilson.

But this man was not Slade Wilson. Wilson had become an agent of rage. Ra's al Ghul was an agent of fear.

"Oliver Queen, so glad to finally meet the man in person."

His voice was deep and rolled off his tongue like velvet. Instantly, Oliver could see, with just one sentence, why someone would follow this madman. His voice alone would bring the world to its knees if he asked hard enough.

"Ra's al Ghul." Oliver replied, nodding respectfully. "You've spent a good deal of time trying to kill you and now you take my chair. I see you are settling for the moral victory."

"Ah, you are the sharp tool that Sara mentioned."

_"Confirmed contact with Deathstroke."_ Diggle roared in his ear.  _"It's definitely that Austrailian bastard."_

"She may have mentioned me to you before, Ra's. But she chose me in the end."

"Yes, we'll have to see how that works out for her."

_"I have Merlyn at the Plaza. Engaging now."_ Sara whispered in his ear.

"I think things will work out fine." Oliver said as he removed his hood and sat across from his own desk. "Now, will you mind telling me what you're doing here?"

"I am saving your city, Mr. Queen. What did you think I was here for?"

"I could have sworn that assassinations and political murder were what you were here for."

"Only someone simple could consider that the only function of The League." Ra's replied smoothly. "Those are our methods but not our goal. Our goal is to return dying civilizations back to the pinnacle of their excellence. Starling City is a prime target for The League in this regard."

_"The Hood's right arm is broken."_ Roy shouted in Oliver's ear. For a brief second, Oliver considered turning off his ear piece before deciding against it.

"Why?" Oliver demanded.

"First, it was the outcast Malcolm Merlyn who destroyed half your city. Then, Slade Wilson terrorized you and this city for months, bringing this city to its knees. We have watched this city for the last two years and have deemed that it is beyond saving. So, we come to your city to save you from the fire you do not know is burning."

_"Two successful arrows to Deathstroke's chest."_ Felicity muttered into her comm. Thankfully for Oliver, Felicity was stunningly aware of how to talk into the comms so that he could hear her and the conversation he was having.

"Murder is that way then. You save a city by burning it to the ground and then rebuilding it?"

"No. We are not terrorists, Mr. Queen. We are liberators. We work in the shadows to bring the laws of mankind back to mankind. For centuries, the men and women of Earth have spoiled it, using it for selfish needs. And for those centuries, it has been the goal of The Demon's Head to eliminate those selfish needs and bring mankind back into a healthy symbiotic relationship."

"The Demon's Head?"

_"Deathstroke is down. The Hood has a broken arm and one good bullet to the hip. Arsenal has a bullet to the leg and three dislocated fingers. They'll survive."_

"There is a reason that I am called The Head of the Demon. The League of Assassins is only one wing of my organization. Crime lords, slum lords, billionaires and countless others worldwide that believe as I do, that the world is dying and needs to be saved, have joined me with The Demon's Head to save the world. The League of Assassins is the functioning arm of that body. It allows me to go out into the world and achieve my goals."

While the words that came to Oliver's ears sounded normal, the manner in which they were delivered confirmed Oliver's suspicions about Ra's al Ghul: the man was completely insane.

"Who are you?" Oliver asked deeply.

"I am a simple man with simple goals and the extraordinary resources with which to meet my goals."

_"Oliver."_

"Resources like the Mirakuru?"

"You are the bright one, aren't you, Mr. Queen." Ra's asked mockingly. "Like the Mirakuru."

"So just how old are you?"

"That is another good question. To be honest, I am no longer certain. It is either 465 or 467. But over the years, these things mean little."

_"Oliver."_ Felicity said again. This time, she sounded more urgent. However, Oliver continued to ignore her.

"How?" Oliver asked, well aware that, with the information he had received over the last few years, Oliver was stepping into a world much bigger than himself.

"The Mirakuru. There is a reason that no one can reproduce it without a sample themselves."

"Because it is natural to our Earth." Nyssa finished for him.

"Thank you, daughter." Ra's drolled dismissively. "It is. On several points on the globe, the tectonic plates and chemicals in the Earth reach a particular balance. When this balance is reached, the material you call Mirakuru is naturally secreted by this Earth. Years ago, during a journey I took as a youth, I encountered this mysterious substance which I fondly called Lazarus."

"After the Biblical fable."

"Yes." Ra's said, nodding his head softly. "During my journey, I was shot in the chest with an arrow and killed. Less than a day later, my body was collected by locals and taken to one of these natural occurring springs of Mirakuru. They placed my body within the material and within moments, I was back. There are certain drawbacks to the material."

"Insanity." Oliver injected.

"Yes but that can be combated."

"Funny. Ever person I've ever seen injected with the Mirakuru has gone mad with rage or just plain crazy. You may think you are in control, Ra's, but you're not."

_"OLIVER!"_

"What?" Oliver shouted into his comm.

"That is Felicity Smoak you are talking to, correct? She is probably warning you that Sara Lance is about to die."

"WHAT?" Oliver growled, standing in place.

"Truth be told, Mr. Queen, I had no interest in telling you this little story. It is none of your concern since you will not be around to stop me much longer. However, having dealt with people like you before, I knew that the quickest way to get you out of my way was not a direct assault on you but on your conscience, your heart.

"My heart?"

"Slade Wilson was broken out of prison and told to throw his fight against Mr. Diggle and Mr. Harper. In return, we promised to inject him with the Mirakuru again. Not to worry, we never intended to keep our end of that deal."

Suddenly, Oliver felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. This was a trap.

"Meanwhile, I knew that any threat to Queen Tower would be addressed by you personally and that any single member of The League of Assassins you would trust to our former member. Well, while I don't enjoy dealing with releasing members from The League, it is something I can understand from time to time. However, what we do not allow is actively working against The League, which is what Sara is doing right now as she loses her fight against Merlyn."

"This can't be."

"So, not only was this a way to punish a former member for turning their backs against the League but it was also a way for me to distract you. You will try and fight against it but despite everything you do, Sara Lance's death will weigh on you. When that weight finally comes to bear, I will take your city."

Instantly, Oliver turned and ran hoping beyond all hope that he wasn't going to be too late.

* * *

The drive from Queen Tower to the Starling Plaza should have normally taken Oliver seven minutes. This time, it took his four. He didn't bother hiding his bike anywhere conspicuous. Instead, he pulled right up the front of the building and parked the bike on the sidewalk in front of the front door. Someone could steal the bike for all he cared.

Right now, that was not his concern.

At first check, the doors were locked. At second check, he had kicked his way in and was racing to the main ballroom where the initial report had reported Tommy to be.

"How is she, Felicity?" Oliver asked over the comm.

_"I'm not sure. Roy just got there. He's entering the ballroom now."_

"What do you see, Roy?" Oliver screamed as he raced through the building.

_"Just get in here."_ was Roy's response.

Pain ripped through Oliver's body as he broke the stitches in his ankle and put a load of undue pressure on his ankle running up six sets of stairs to the top floor ballroom. Tearing through the doors, Oliver saw the scene in front of him in slow motion.

The room had been set up for a banquet of some kind. Later, Oliver would find out that Merlyn had decided to take hostages, hence the report to the police. Sara had attacked from above, seeking to catch him off guard.

What she caught was an arrow to the shoulder, one from which she never recovered. Having expected to surprise Tommy, Sara wasn't prepared for the all-out assault that Tommy had laid into her. When Oliver reviewed the footage, it seemed that Tommy had been prepared for her from the moment he walked in the room.

And he probably was. With Ra's al Ghul's assessment of Oliver's team assignments right on the money, Tommy had probably been training to fight Sara for weeks so that when this day came, he would be ready.

The fight was brief. The first arrow clipped Sara's lung, reducing her ability to breath almost instantly. For the next few minutes, she fought valiantly until Tommy pierced her stomach straight through with another arrow.

Then, the final blow had been a third arrow. This time, the arrow hit her directly in the right pectoral musicle, exactly where Oliver had been hit.

As Oliver approached the scene, he knew that what he was looking at: a dead woman. Blood was already seeping all over the floor in massive quantities as Oliver slid next to her. Gently, Oliver placed one hand under her head, lifting her into his arms, cradling her.

"Oliver?" Sara said weakly, coughing up blood as she spoke.

"I'm here, Sara." Oliver whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

"He's dangerous, Oliver. They trained him well."

"Don't-don't you worry about that now." Oliver replied. "We're going to get you to the hospital."

"Y-y-you can't fool me, Ollie." Sara replied, a bleak smile forming on her face. "A-a-ff-ter all these years, d-d-o you st-til thing I-i'm the s-s-same dumb girl I use-d-d to be?"

"No." Oliver replied, a forced grin forming on his face. She was fading fast and knew it. She had been rebellious and free and always remarkably self-aware. Facing death hadn't changed that one bit.

"Y-y-y...p-promise m-m-m-e something."

"Anything."

"D-d-don't blame y-y-yourself and k-k-keep...L-l-l-laurel safe."

"I will. I promise." Oliver replied, tears flowing down his face at this point.

"I love you, Ol-l...Ol-lie.

"I love you, Sara."

Just as Oliver thought she was going to slip away, Sara's eyes snapped open.

"Ol-lie, l-look out."

"What?" Oliver said, looking behind him to see nothing.

"H-h-h-is p-...his plans always come in t-t-two p-p-parts."

"OK." Oliver replied softly. He could help but smile a little, knowing that her last words could have been anything and they were tactical advice.

"Thanks." Sara said evenly.

"For what?"

"F-f-for believing in m-mee..."

As Sara Lance finished her answer, her breath gave out. Sara Lance, The Canary, was dead. For several minutes, Oliver lay there in the empty ballroom, sobbing into the soft hair of one of his oldest friends. However, once Oliver got his bearings back, he had only one thought.

One thought that poisoned his mind. Ra's al Ghul was wrong. Sara's death wouldn't distract him. If anything, her sacrifice because of his mistake would fuel him. Because only one thought kept him going.

**"Ra's al Ghul will die."**


	10. IX: Wilson

For two days, Oliver had sat in stunned silence. In fact, he could hardly remember the last time he had spoken. Both Felicity and Diggle had stopped asking him anything that didn't involve answering in yes or no. For two days, Oliver sat in the ArrowCave and just watched the video footage from The Starling Plaza over and over again. Roy had stopped visiting the Cave altogether to avoid watching it and Felicity and Diggle repeatedly asked him to stop watching it, a request he wanted to listen to.

Unfortunately, he couldn't. Not until he truly realized what had happened. In his years as The Hood or The Arrow or The Green Arrow, Oliver had lost people. Some of them had come back, some of them hadn't. However, what Oliver had never done was lost one of his own. If you joined Team Arrow, Oliver did everything he could to make sure that you were properly trained and protected. This way, you could join the crusade and you would still survive.

Of all the Team Arrow members he could have imagined losing, Sara Lance was the last one. Sara Lance, Assassin, was dead.

"Oliver, we have to go."

Sara's funeral. Oliver didn't want to go but he knew he had to. All Oliver wanted to do was stare at the case in front of him. Where Oliver's attire normally stood in its glass case, now lay a copy of Sara's outfit, complete with bo staff. It was the least that Oliver could do to memorialize his friend.

"I know." Oliver chocked out, his voice cracking from disuse.

Standing, Oliver followed Felicity and Diggle out of the Cave and Verdant and into the black car that waited for them out front. The drive to the cemetery was quick and uneventful. Sara was being buried in the Starling City public plots where Tommy had been buried (or so he thought).

When the three of them arrived, they got out of the car and marched across the lawn towards the large group of people congregating around the casket placed in the openness of the field in front of them. Before they could get there, however, Oliver was approached by Quentin Lance, Sara's father.

"Go ahead and get us seats." Oliver said softly to Felicity and Diggle.

"You have seats." Quentin replied towards the other two as they walked away. "Right in the front next to me."

"Are you sure, Mr. Lance?" Oliver replied as Felicity and Diggle left them alone to talk in peace.

"It is still Quentin, Oliver, and yes, I'm sure. Sara was as much your family as she was mine. You were with her on that island and you were with her every night since she returned from that hellhole, protecting her and this city. For that, you're family."

"What?" Oliver said in a shock.

Quentin Lance knew Oliver's secret. Oliver knew that Quentin wasn't a dumb man and there was definitely the possibility that he had figured it out but for him to be so blatant about it, that was something Oliver had never expected.

"You don't have to play stupid with me." Quentin said reassuringly.

"How long?"

"Since The Undertaking." Quentin replied with a smile. "I was almost certain and then once I started getting calls from Felicity Smoak and Sara started working with the Arrow while she dated you, that pretty much guaranteed it."

"You could have gotten fired if someone knew you knew."

"I could have." he agreed. "However, this city is worth more than my job. You know that better than anyone which is part of the reason I would like you to speak for Sara today."

"Mr. L-"

"Quentin."

"Quentin," Oliver smiled softly, the action almost hurting since it had been quite some time since he had done that. "Why not you or Laurel?"

"Laurel has...kind of shut down on me." Quentin admitted. "She hasn't talked about anything these past two days. I would be watching out for her."

"I already had planned on it. She rightly blamed me last time this happened and no doubt she'll do the same thing again."

"She would be wrong, Oliver. Sara chose this path. She could have come back and finished school or whatever she wanted to do. Instead, she joined you. Laurel will see that eventually. In the meantime, keep an eye out."

"Will do."

"Anyway, she's not up for it, Dinah hasn't been able to stop crying for two days and I'm not a person that speaks publicly well. But you knew Sara just as well as anyone, in all facets of her life, and you tend to speak in public fairly frequently. Loving my daughter is a healthy bonus as well."

"I'll do what I can, Quentin." Oliver replied, honored that Quentin would choose him above all else.

"I'm sure you'll do her proud."

* * *

The funeral service was a fairly simple affair. The group wasn't very large as Sara kept to a fairly small group of friends after her return from the island. So, it was largely Oliver's group, her family, a few friends from QC and that was it. Finally, it became Oliver's turn to speak. Standing slowly, Oliver buttoned his jacket before stepping up to the podium in front of the group.

Looking out, Oliver's eyes initially locked on Laurel's, who stared at him with an expression that even Oliver found difficult to read. He could see rage, sadness, pity, sympathy and a little bit of jealousy all locked in there with none of them showing too much. Oliver knew that eventually one of those emotions would break through and that he would need to be there for her when it did.

The next set of eyes Oliver found were, not surprisingly, Felicity's. Sara and Felicity had developed a rather tight bond during Felicity's first term with Team Arrow. Seeing Felicity's eyes red with tears as she began to realize that her friend, one of the few female friends Felicity had, wasn't getting back up and continuing the good fight was heart breaking. That alone made Oliver want to abandon this ceremony and find and kill every member of The League.

However, he knew that his presence was needed here. For Quentin and Dinah, Felicity and Diggle, Laurel and the remainder of Sara's friends, Oliver was a constant presence in Sara's life, post-island. It was Oliver's job to close the book on Sara Lance and to give these people the hope that Sara had done good in her life and that she was mostly definitely in a better place.

Not necessarily a job that the pessimistic Oliver Queen was ideally suited for but he would do his best.

"As everyone knows, I was not the most responsible of people when I was younger." Oliver said to laughs all around the area. "I partied late, slept late, quit jobs, quit schools and generally got away with being the son of a billionaire."

Once again, Oliver looked over at Laurel and smiled.

"Despite this, I was blessed with great people in my life. One of them was my girlfriend and her younger sister, Laurel and Sara. As much as I loved Laurel, Sara and I had much more in common. Rebellious, immature, selfish were ways that people had described both of us. Due to my own selfishness, Sara agreed to join me on a yacht trip with my father."

Oliver found Laurel's angry eyes and found that he couldn't help but being absolutely honest.

"You scared me to death, Laurel." Oliver said shortly, an honest smile on his face. "You were talking about moving in together and all that craziness and I was just wondering when I was going to party next. I brought Sara on the trip to sabotage us. Consciously, I was trying to save you. If you caught Sara and I together, you were leave me and I wouldn't have to worry about apartments and weddings or anything like that."

Laurel's expression changed from one of anger to one of understanding (tinged with anger).

"If I would have known what was going to happen to us, I would have left her here. When I landed on the island, all I could think about was the two lives I had destroyed. The five years I spent on the island were my penance for the lives I destroyed. I returned knowing that Laurel and Quentin may never forgive me, nor did I expect them to. However, everything I've done since the island, every single good thing I've done in my life because I know I didn't do any good things before the island, I did those things because of Sara Lance."

"Sara Lance is the reason that I am who I am. In honor of her death, I changed. I became a better person and a person devoted to saving our city. Then, miraculously, she came back to us. Sara never talked about it much and I never pressed. But I could see that it changed her just as much as it changed me. For the rest of the time that she had with us, she devoted herself to making things better for her city and for her family."

"She came to work with me at Queen Consolidated." Oliver added, smiling at his memory of the day she suggested he hire her as the head of Security. Some of the male staff had doubted her. When they ended up on their backs in the training room, they doubted her less. "She believed in me. She had from the very beginning even when I didn't."

It was at this point in his speech where Oliver's anger took over. But this wasn't the rage he had directed at Ra's or Tommy, this was the rage he had directed at himself. That feeling of self-loathing that he had lived in for two days too over, spewing out into the crowd.

"It's not fair, is it?" Oliver said gruffly. "Sara never believed she did any good in the world. All she worried about were her mistakes. She worried about her decision to stay hidden from the world for a year after her memory had returned to her. She worried about her choice once she returned to the city. Did she do the right thing then? For all the good that Sara Lance did for the world, for her family and for me, she never once felt good enough."

At this point, Oliver's tears covered his face. He knew his eyes were red and bloodshot but at this point, it didn't matter to him. In his mind, it was just him and Sara there. Everyone else was just a visitor.

"You were the best, Sara. I know you worried about disappointing us but it was us. We were the ones that disappointed you. You weren't perfect, none of us are, but as Sara,  _you_ were perfect."

Finally, Oliver broke down turning back to Quentin and Laurel. While not necessarily ignoring Sara's mother, he simply didn't have the experiences with her that he had with the other two. He knew what he would say next would sound strange to the others in attendance that weren't in on his secret.

"It was my fault." Oliver said softly to the pair of them. "From the moment she stepped on that boat, it was my fault. It's my fault that you'll live the rest of your lives without a sister or a daughter and for that, I am so sorry. I know that nothing I can do will ever repay you for that but I promise that I will give you everything I can to make up the debt that I feel for you."

At this point, Oliver couldn't continue. He had said what he came to say, to memorialize his friend, someone who he had loved dearly. However, he wasn't simply done speaking. He felt that his continued presence would simply be a hindrance on the rest of the family. So, very calmly, Oliver placed his hand on the casket next to him.

"Goodbye, little bird." Oliver whispered softly.

Having said his own goodbye, Oliver stepped off the stage and walked to the car, allowing the rest of the ceremony to continue without him.

* * *

That night, Oliver sat on the balcony of his ritzy penthouse, a beer in hand simply staring out over his city. He knew how arrogant he sounded whenever he mentally referred to it as "his city" but Oliver felt a certain connection with the city he protected. He didn't own it, he was responsible for it and it made it his.

He was also responsible for the people that helped him protect it. Which meant that he had been responsible for Sara and her death. Of that, there was no doubt. Oliver knew that he had a tendency to sit and wallow and that he was proving just how great he was at creating his own misery but Oliver needed a few days to figure out what to do before they headed back into the city again.

Ra's had him figured out from the very beginning. From their first meeting, just like with Slade, he was ahead. Unlike with Slade, he no longer had Sara helping him.

Oliver was shaken from his thoughts at the sound of a doorbell. His own doorbell. Oliver had told Felicity and Diggle that he wished to spend an evening alone and Roy and Thea seemed to be willing to let him alone as well. So the identity of the person at the door was a mystery.

Running to the back of the penthouse, Oliver grabbed two small knives from one of his emergency equipment stashes and clipped them to the back of his belt. Racing back to the door, Oliver leaned down into the peephole. Knowing the identity of the person in front of the door didn't really help him much.

He was still fairly certain that he was going to need the knives.

Opening the door, Oliver stood face to face with a very unstable looking Laurel Lance.

"Laurel." Oliver said cautiously. "What can I do for you?"

"You can let me in." she ordered roughly.

"Fair enough."

Stepping out of her way, Oliver let Laurel pass him into the penthouse before shutting and locking the door behind him. Hiding the two knives behind a vase in the living room, Oliver sat across from Laurel, who had planted herself on the couch.

He sat well out of striking distance.

For nearly ten minutes, the pair sat in silence with Oliver uncertain of what to say and Laurel apparently not in any hurry to speak. Thankfully, she broke the silence.

"I hate you."

Oliver had expected this. The tirade about how she had taken her sister was about as predictable as Quentin's revelations had been unpredictable.

"I know you do."

"Not for the reasons you think." Laurel countered. "I hate that you knew my sister better than I ever did."

"You had years with her, Laurel."

"You said it today, Oliver. She came back different. She spent all that time with you on the island and then with The League. Then, she came back and she was like a ghost for so long. Finally, she came back to us but she came back different. But the whole time, she was with you."

"Not that whole time." Oliver reminded her. "Remember, I thought she was dead too."

"Am I ever going to find out what happened on the island, Ollie?" Laurel asked before standing and coming to sit next to him. "Is anyone?"

"Maybe, one day, one person will learn the whole story." Oliver admitted. "I'm very serious when I say that it was hell on earth. I don't enjoy talking about it."

"Felicity will handle it well." Laurel responded, continuing when she saw Oliver's surprised face. "Ollie, we've all suspected or known for years. I know your "nighttime activities" will complicate it but you'll eventually get there. I'm certain of it."

"Well that makes one of us." Oliver muttered sadly.

"I'm so jealous of what the two of you had." Laurel admitted. "I hate that you both tried to hide it from me. That you both felt that I wasn't strong enough."

"Laur-"

"Damn it, Oliver, let me finish!" Laurel shouted, standing as some of that rage that Oliver saw pressed forward. This was more like the Laurel he expected. "I know that losing her is probably just as hard for you as it is for me, but she was my sister! My little sister! I remember teasing her when she was younger because was so chubby for few years. But, then I remember how beautiful she got as she grew older. She was so smart and so damn stubborn and so in love with you."

"Not after Slade." Oliver replied. "She saw what I did for Felicity. She saw what happened. I don't think she loved me after that."

"Newsflash, Ollie: she loved you from the first moment she saw you until she died helping you save this city!"

Well, that wasn't exactly news that he had expected. Sara had told him that she knew they wouldn't work together. That she was too dark, too gone to be saved by his love. That was right around when...oh no.

It was right around when he realized just how much he loved Felicity. Apparently, he hadn't been the only one to make that realization around that time. She had broken up with him because she knew that he didn't love her. Certainly, he loved her but not like he loved Felicity.

She had loved him all that time, every day, and still showed up to the ArrowCave to fight the good fight with Oliver, Roy and Diggle every single night. Never once did she betray that she still held feelings for him. When Felicity left, she did everything she could to be a good friend, talking with Oliver about Felicity and about what he had lost.

Never once did Oliver stop to think that Sara may have just been the worst person to talk about when it came to that particular subject matter.

She was still in love with him. Oliver could hardly believe it and yet it all really made sense. Her devotion to him was unparalleled. She believed in him more than anyone other than Felicity, which also made sense considering the love for him he knew Felicity to have.

"Oh my god." Oliver whispered softly.

"You really had no idea?" Laurel replied, mocking him. "You had no clue! How dense can you be, Queen? She would have stepped in front of a bullet, car, bus or train for you. You were everything to her. Over the last two years, I may have despised the two of you but even then, I had quite a few conversations with her about you."

"What about?"

"Well, I hated you for lying to me, Ollie, not for being The Arrow. I knew Starling City needed The Arrow and I knew that The Arrow needed The Canary. So when she called me, telling me that being around you was too much for her, when saw how your love for Felicity nearly destroyed you, I told her that she needed to be strong for her because you needed her."

"I did. I probably still do." Oliver admitted. "I had no idea. I was so absorbed in my own suffering."

"Surprise."

"Have you had the person you love kidnapped and held at gunpoint, Laurel?"

"No, but I was there in Verdant with the rest of your Team when you gave yourself over to Slade."

"How is that even the same thing?" Oliver questioned.

"Well, it's not kidnapping but it is watching the man you love give himself over to a homicidal madman for another woman."

If the revelation about Sara hit him like a bag of bricks, this was like having a truck dropped on his head. After all he had put her through, Laurel still loved him? That didn't even make sense.

"I know you're not healthy for me, Ollie." Laurel continued. "I know we can never be anything but it hasn't stopped me from loving you. I always knew that there was something great hiding inside you, just like Sara did. We were just waiting for you to realize it yourself. When I found out what you were, I hated you. I still probably do. But more than anything, I was proud of you. Sara told me parts of what the island was like and for you to go through something like that, come back and devote yourself to saving a city, that made me proud. It proved to both me and Sara that you could be just what we thought you could have been."

All of these people believing in him. For what? Diggle, Roy, Sara, Laurel, Felicity, Thea: all of them had looked to him at some point. Why? In the beginning, Oliver had been a murderer following a laundry list of bad people. Now, he was simply doing what he could to keep criminals off the street. He wasn't a genius, he wasn't a natural leader, he was a strong body and a bow and arrow.

"Why?" Oliver finally uttered, the only word he knew at this point.

"Why what?"

"No good has ever come to you from me, Laurel." Oliver said sadly. "Before the island, I was pathetic and immature. Then, I took your sister and did everything I could to get her killed in China. After the island, I returned and couldn't save Tommy. I lied to you and got your sister to do the same. You were right to leave Starling City when you did."

"And I was right to come back when I did." Laurel countered. "Life seems to push us in the direction we need to go and I needed to be here. I got a few good weeks left with Sara before she gave her life to your cause. I intend to honor that."

"How are you going to do that?"

Laurel smiled nervously before sitting back down next to Oliver, placing her hands on his knees. Breathing deeply, she spoke.

"It's actually the reason I came over here. I have a favor to ask you."

"If it's anything I can help with, I'll do all I can." Oliver told her gently.

"You're the only one that can help actually." Laurel replied nervously. Her hands were shaking and her voice was ragged. Whatever this was, Oliver was sure it was one hell of a favor. "I would like you to train me to replace Sara."

"You work at QC already?" Oliver said in confusion. "Why would you want to switch there?"

"Not at QC, dummy." Laurel said with a nervous giggle. "Her  _other_ work."

"The Canary?" Oliver whispered.

"Yes." Laurel replied before continuing. "Years ago, my father told me that my sister and I were polar opposites on so much. He always feared that we would end up hating each other as adults and for a time, he was right. Or at least I was weak and hated her. Either way, I want to put that right. I want to take her place."

"Laurel, there's so much else you could do to honor her without having to go out with us at night."

"There is but none of it as important as helping you. You know that I have a good foundation to start with. I've taken years worth of self-defense classes, I can handle most firearms and I have a very intricate knowledge of the police system that won't require you to go to my father so often."

For a couple seconds, Oliver considered denying her request outright. Oliver didn't need another member of the Lance family dying on his watch. However, he knew that Laurel would probably go through with it anyway, with or without his training. She was much more likely to be successful with Oliver's instruction. Plus, this way, Oliver could train her to work with him  _without_ killing every person she ran into.

"We do this my way." Oliver replied. "You come to Verdant every night at eight. We will train for two hours, rain or shine, sick or healthy before I go out on patrols. When we go out on patrols, you will assist anyone that happens to be there. If you are there only, you will provide tactical support and get to know our database front and back. When  _I_ deem you are ready, we will talk about letting you go out but not until then."

"Thank you, Oliver." Laurel said softly before placing a soft kiss on his forehead and standing. "I will be an amazing student but for now, I need to get back to Dad."

"OK." Oliver said softly. "Stay with Quentin for a few days. I'll call you when I'm ready."

"Not likely." Laurel shot back. "We start tomorrow."

"Nicely done. You've passed your first test."

Smiling sadly, Laurel walked to the door and let herself out. Once she was out of his sight, Oliver had only two thoughts. The first was that he wasn't entirely certain what he had gotten himself into.

The second was that he was certain that Felicity was going to be pissed.

* * *

The next morning, Oliver skipped work and instead chose to drive to The ArrowCave. Thankfully, no one else was there so that Oliver could do what he needed to do. During the time after Slade's rampage, Oliver had decided to build himself a set of holding cells within The ArrowCave. There, any potential criminals would wait until ARGUS showed up and took them away. It was this relationship that kept Waller from continually calling in favors and kept some of the cards in Oliver's hands.

It was in these cells that Oliver's oldest enemy, Slade Wilson, sat. In the days after Sara's death, Oliver had intentionally waited until some of his rage had left him before he chose to talk to Slade. Now, it was time for a conversation to be had.

As he stepped into the cell, he was pleased to see a disheveled and rather beaten Slade Wilson was still chained to the far wall, his armor removed. Sitting on the bench at the other end, Oliver smiled at his old friend.

"You've looked better, Slade."

"Go to hell." Slade growled. "It took two of them to take me down."

"It did." Oliver agreed. "I would never take you for granted, Slade. That's why I sent two of them."

"You wouldn't even come and face me on your own."

"Didn't need to. I knew they would take care of you and then we would have this opportunity to talk. Now, the last time I saw you, I was leaving you in an ARGUS facility with a needle sticking in your arm."

"You did." Slade agreed. "Although Diggle and the boy seemed confused, they seemed to be under the impression that I was dead."

"I never told them that I found you after we threw you out of that plane."

"Ah yes, what was the plan there? You weren't sure I was dead so you threw me out of a plane in the middle of the Sahara."

"The plan was that you would either die from hitting the ground or dying of thirst."

"Thankfully that Mirakuru stayed in my system for as long as it did." Slade mused with a grin. "So how did they never know?"

"All the rest of them was away from the base for a couple days when you struck. I took care of you and then took you to Waller."

Oliver had been alone in the Cave late one night when someone had entered the Cave behind him. With Roy out of town on a school trip, Thea still on screen upstairs and Sara and Diggle out of town for different business (Sara: family, Diggle: ARGUS), he knew that it wasn't good. Turning around, Oliver saw a very angry but very alive Slade Wilson staring at him. The fight had been rather quick (Slade was still getting used to fighting without the Mirakuru) and so Oliver had simply tied Slade up and called Waller.

Oliver had intentionally not told the rest of the team. With Slade in ARGUS custody, he figured they would never have to worry about him again.

Apparently, he had been wrong.

"See, that was your mistake, giving me to Waller. Waller wanted me, kid. She gave me command of her little Squad. That gave me access to enough to orchestrate my escape."

"Of course." Oliver said with a grin. "Well, then I suppose I can't make that same mistake twice. You'll stay here then."

"What?"

"Unless you're willing to tell me why you were working for Ra's al Ghul and The League, then you'll stay here and you won't ever get out. These cells are linked to my palm print and those doors won't open unless you're in cuffs, which are bio-metrically linked to your DNA. If they are tampered with, the whole system shuts down and a non-lethal gas is sprayed in here. This is probably the most secure cell on the Earth. I just don't like having visitors."

For a second, Oliver thought that Slade was going to refuse his offer. Thankfully, Slade eventually realized that life in The ArrowCave was going to be terrible. With zero chance for escape, he had better odds at getting out in ARGUS custody, something Oliver was willing to risk since Slade lacked the raw power of the Mirakuru.

"Ra's al Ghul promised me that he would give me your head and a small sample of Mirakuru if I joined him."

"Obviously that didn't happen."

"It wasn't going to happen either." Slade replied with a growl. "I was promised an army of Assassins to take the SCPD. When your boys showed up, they bailed. Ra's al Ghul double crossed me."

"Not a good feeling, is it?" Oliver said, mocking him.

"Like you should be talking, Queen." Slade roared. "Although I hear that after all these years, that bitch finally got what was coming to her."

Quickly, Oliver stood and reached the short length of the cell to strike Slade hard in the face, breaking his nose in the process.

"It seems I've struck a nerve." Slade quipped before spitting out blood.

"She never did anything to you, Slade."

"She was ALIVE!" Slade barked, standing and stretching the cuffs as far as they could go. "Her very presence was an offense to me. For every second she was alive, she was a reminder of the love that I had lost."

"A love that never loved you." Oliver remarked, grinning at the raging Australian.

"That doesn't matter, you bastard! I loved her and you killed her!"

"Years ago, I would have agreed with you." Oliver said calmly, retaking his seat. "However, I've come to the realization that I wasn't the one that pulled that trigger."

"It might as well have been you!"

"But it wasn't." Oliver shot back evenly. "I was put in a position where I was going to be forced to choose one way or the other. So maybe I did make a choice. I loved both Sara and Shado. Either way, I wasn't behind the gun, I didn't put us in that position and my finger didn't pull the trigger. The sooner you understand, the sooner you'd be able to return to the Slade Wilson I knew before."

"Who was he?"

"He loved Shado but he didn't idolize people. He was a realist. He knew the world for what it was, not some paradise that he made up in his head. But more than anything, he was a person who believed that people could grow, if given the chance."

"Bullshit. Who ever grew around me? Who was ever a better person because I was there, Queen?"

"I was." Oliver said softly. "Whether you were supporting me or hating me, I was better because you drove me to be better. Now, you can go on hating me. I don't care. But, you could give up your vendetta like you know Shado would want and make the world a better place."

"The world is a dark place, kid. The sooner you understand that, the better."

"That actually sounds like the Slade I knew before the Mirakuru." Oliver said. "I liked that Slade."

Standing up, Oliver walked out of the cell before turning around and engaging all of the security measures that he had installed to keep Slade in check. Once he was done with that, Oliver turned back to the rest of the Cave and got to work on fashioning some new arrows. For the League of Assassins, Oliver was taking a weakened version of the Tibetan Pit Viper Venom that they famously used and was dipping his arrows in them. So, not only would they be taken out by the injury of the arrow but they would also be sick for at least two weeks until the venom was fully flushed out of their system.

Even in his rage, irony was not lost on Oliver Queen.

"I have a bone to pick with you."

Sad or not, Oliver couldn't help but smile. Turning around, he saw Felicity Smoak racing down the stairs towards him.

"Don't you always." Oliver grinned. "My first question is why are you here?"

"Scanning the city for possible locations where Ra's and The League could be hiding."

"I thought you weren't back."

"I'm not." Felicity confirmed quickly. "However, I did tell you that if you needed my help in an emergency, I would be there. I think an invasion by The League of Assassins counts."

"Me too." Oliver answered with a sigh. "So what are your bones?"

"First, do we really have to keep him here?" Felicity replied, her eyes shifting towards the cells in the corner. "How can that be safe?"

"Two reasons." Oliver replied, holding up two fingers before ticking off the first. "I don't trust Waller to keep him right now. She wasn't watching him closely enough when he escaped. Secondly, he's valuable. Even if only working as a hired gun, he worked with Ra's. We can keep talking to him and hopefully he'll give us something."

"I suppose that makes sense." Felicity said as she took a seat next to Oliver at the computers.

"It does. Now, what was the other thing?"

"Laurel. Is it some pathetic desire to relive the past that keeps you from letting her go?" Felicity asked in a tone harsher than she normally produced. She seemed to notice it and backed off. "I mean, I understand giving her a job, but training her?"

"Felicity, I know you don't really care for Laurel."

"You mean that I think that she's shallow and weak and hasn't had your back when she could have."

"Much like you had mine." Oliver grumbled before mentally smacking his head against the desk. Oliver may have resented Felicity's desire to run from Starling City but he certainly couldn't blame her.

"Oliver," Felicity said softly, her heart visibly breaking in front of him. It was all Oliver could do to keep himself from lunging forward and bringing her into his arms. "You know it wasn't like that. I thought I was saving you. I did it  _for_ you."

Oliver held a hand up to stop her.

"I know, Felicity. That wasn't fair of me." Oliver replied softly. "I still hate that you felt that you had to leave. We could have figured something else out."

"Like what?"

"Don't put me on the spot like that." Oliver shot back with a grin. "I don't know what we would have done but you should have stayed. We needed you here."

"We?" Felicity replied slyly.

"We've already had this conversation. You know that I needed you here." Oliver said softly before turning back to the original topic. "I know that I'm not going to win that battle anytime soon so, about Laurel."

"Yes, Laurel." Felicity said, resetting herself in her chair.

"There are times when you look at people and you can just see the determination." Oliver started evenly. "You can feel it radiating off of them. You get like that when there's a particular problem with your computer or when you're chasing down a lead. Only a few people really have the ability to use that determination and turn it into something productive. I have it, you have it and when Laurel asked me for her help, I could tell that she had it."

"But why train her? What makes her different from Helena?"

The mention of The Huntress was another blow to the stomach. Yes, Oliver had tried to save Helena and that had failed miserably. However, Oliver knew there were differences.

"Her background. Helena was raised in a crime family. She didn't see things the way the rest of the world sees them. But Laurel was a lawyer before any of this started. She could been a litigator or a prosecutor but her first choice was to help those who couldn't help themselves. That shows me something. Also, Helena didn't have a good model. Her model was me but it was still during my "kill everything" phase."

"Not a good phase."

"No kidding." Oliver said, shaking his head with a smile. "I'm not Laurel's model."

"But then, who-oh." Felicity said before realizing just who Laurel would be taking after.

"Part of Laurel's training will be telling her  _everything._ After Slade, she left town without a chance for me to explain. While you left with all the information, Laurel left with only a limited understanding of what was actually going on."

"When you say everything, do yo-"

"I mean everything, Felicity." Oliver confirmed. "Before she can join us, she needs to know about how I came to the place that I am. She also needs to know about Sara's journey. Sara and I came from similar but radically different places and she needs to see that, eventually, we both came to the same realization: this city needs heroes, not vigilantes. We have to be a model for the city and the only way to do that is to go out of our way to  _not_ kill those who we face."

"Do you think she'll take to it?"

"I certainly hope so." Oliver grinned. "With The League in town, we could certainly use The Canary again sooner rather than later."

"Just not too soon."

"Agreed."

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Thea asked Oliver as they waited outside the press room at QC.

"I have to." Oliver confirmed. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm nervous." Thea admitted.

"You should be. It's a lot on your shoulders but you'll have help. I'm not going to completely throw you to the wolves."

"You are entirely throwing me to the wolves." Thea growled.

"You agreed."

"I did." Thea said sadly. "Once this is over, we find someone else permanent. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Oliver smiled. "Now let's go."

Pushing the door open, Oliver and Thea marched into the lion's den of reporters. As expected, they all started shouting questions at the pair of them the moment they walked into the room. Ignoring them, the Queen siblings made their way to the front of the room where Oliver took the podium with Thea seated directly behind him.

"We will start with a prepared statement and then Mr. and Ms. Queen will take questions for five minutes." one of the PR staffers said before Oliver spoke.

"Thank you." Oliver said before clearing his throat. As Oliver looked down at his notes, he noticed that his hands were shaking.  _You failed him._ That was the thought floating through Oliver's head on repeat.  _You failed him._

However, Oliver remembered the words that he had said at his father's grave.  _Sometimes, in order to honor your wishes, I will have to dishonor your memory._ While this wasn't true dishonesty, Oliver felt ashamed that things had come to this.

Finally, Oliver took a deep breath and spoke.

"My life has been a remarkable mix of great and terrible things. I was born the son of a multi-millionaire and later billionaire, heir to a fortune that I had to do no work to obtain. As a result, I spent my youth partying, playing and bouncing from school to school with no purpose or aim in life. I was fortunate to be blessed with great friends that stuck by me during these years. While they were out trying to be adults, myself and fellow trust fund kid Tommy Merlyn were seeing which restaurants we could buy with our parents' money."

The mention of Tommy in a positive light destroyed Oliver internally, especially considering what he was about to say. However, it was difficult for Oliver to reconcile this Tommy Merlyn with the one of his youth. In his mind, they were two entirely independent people.

"Once high school was over, my list of "friends" grew." Oliver said, utilizing air quotes on the word friends. "However, my true friends, the ones who loved Ollie and not Ollie's money, remained steadfast. Tommy, along with Laurel and Sara Lance and my sister Thea, were my world. When the few bad things occurred in my life, they were there for me."

As Oliver prepared for the next part of his speech, he reached for the glass of water, his hands now shaking in front of everyone in the room. The reporters noticed and started writing. Oliver fought to ignore the incessant scribbling and after taking a drink, continued.

"Then, the shipwreck happened. I lost my father and one of my best friends in a flash, my life changed forever. For five years, I lay on that island, fearing that I may never make it home to the rest of that circle. Each night, I awoke in terror with memories of Sara and my father flashing before my eyes. When I finally returned from the island, my immaturity from before it came back to haunt me. Sara was dead, Laurel hated me and I was no longer the same person that I was before, as much as I tried to delude myself otherwise."

"But then, a miracle happened. A year after my return, we learned that Sara had survived. She had suffered some memory loss due to the amount of time she spent under the water. For nearly four years, she had been only vaguely aware of her identity knowing her name but little else about herself. Finally, when her memory returned, so did she. We did what we could to make things work. However, with Tommy gone after the earthquake, what was left of our circle of friends was broken."

Finally, the tears that Oliver had fought came rushing forward. Oliver thought that he had dealt with all of this at Sara's funeral. Maybe the story he was about to tell wasn't a story afterall.

"A week ago, that circle shattered. Sara Lance was one of my best lifelong friends. With the death of Tommy three years ago, Sara, Laurel and I leaned on each other, doing our best to sort things out and be there for each other. And while Laurel and I will always be friends, nothing can change that, the circle of friends that we had is now down to just the two of us."

"Tommy and Sara were like siblings to me and I to them. Sara's death has brought back issues that I thought that I had dealt with upon my return from the island. Apparently, I was mistaken. Due to my inability to deal with these things, I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from Queen Consolidated."

As expected, the room exploded. Regardless of the fact that Oliver wasn't done yet, the reporters felt that they needed to fight through that speech and ask him all sorts of stupid questions. Oliver, fighting his sadness and rage the best he could, simply waited patiently for them to realize that he was not yet ready to answer questions.

Not before firing another bombshell at them.

"The position of CEO will not be filled during my absence per the request of my sister. However, at my request, Thea will attain all the responsibilities of the acting CEO in my stead in addition to her role as Chair of the Board. I will remain available to her as an adviser during this time but for the time being, Thea Dearden Queen will be the new face of Queen Consolidated."

If Oliver had expected the room to explode with noise, he was sorely mistaken. As it was, it seemed that the reporters were waiting for Oliver to let them in on his joke. Unfortunately, this was no joke. Until Ra's al Ghul and The League were taken care of, he couldn't deal with QC and that's where Thea came in.

"At this point, Mr. and Ms. Queen will take questions."

* * *

An hour later, Oliver arrived at The ArrowCave with Felicity, Roy and Diggle already waiting for them.

"Quite a show you put on, Queen." Felicity said with a grin.

"As much as it pains me to say, it wasn't really a show."

Oliver hadn't really realized just how much Sara's death destroyed him. What Oliver had expected to be an act had become a public declaration of just how much Sara's death had hurt him. While the public didn't know the real reason why, they were now well aware that Oliver was in a severely broken state.

There are just somethings that you can't fake.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Felicity whispered as Oliver felt her come from behind him to speak right at his shoulder.

"No. I'm fine."

"You're not fine." Felicity argued.

"Really, I'm fine."

"Ollie, no one believes that."

Looking up, Oliver had forgotten that he had invited someone else into their world. Standing at the top of the stairs was Laurel, her eyes red with what had obviously been tears. Marching down the stairs, she got face to face with Oliver. She was the only one that could get away with talking to Oliver like how he knew she was about to.

"Seriously? Your macho man show is a bunch of bull. I watch that press conference the same as the rest of these guys. I didn't see someone who is fine. I saw someone who is just as broken as I am."

"I am." Oliver admitted.

"See! Was that so hard?" Felicity replied with a grin. "How come she can do that?"

"Because I haven't known anyone in the world as long as I've known Laurel." Oliver said softly before his mentality changing. "You ready to start your training?"

"Absolutely." Laurel replied firmly. "Is there somewhere that I can change?"

"The locker room is back there." Felicity said softly. "When you're done, don't use the last shower."

"Why not?"

"No hot water."

"Well, ok."

With that information, Laurel marched off to go get ready. As she left, Oliver turned to Felicity.

"That was surprisingly nice of you." Oliver remarked.

"Well, I didn't tell her that the hot water in the first one only lasts for about two minutes." Felicity said with a mildly evil grin. "So, there's that."

"You really can be evil sometimes. Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Don't get on my bad side." Felicity said smartly before walking away. "Although I doubt any of you could get on my bad side. You're too sweet."

"Is this all quite touching?"

Now that voice was confusing for Oliver. It was very distinctly male but Roy, Diggle and Oliver were already there. Suddenly, Oliver felt a chill down his spine as he realized just who this was. Looking back towards the stairs, Oliver was terrified to see his target standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Ra's al Ghul had come to The ArrowCave.

 


	11. X: Kent

Oliver couldn't believe what he was seeing. Glad in another one of the cut suits that he had worn during their previous meeting, Oliver still couldn't help but think that the man cut a powerful image into whatever room he walked into.

Unfortunately for Oliver, it was his sanctuary that Ra's had chosen to walk into this time.

Just as Ra's went to open his mouth, Laurel walked out of the locker room, ready to train. Instantly, she looked at Oliver, a look of confusion on her face. The look on Oliver's face was thankfully enough to keep her rooted to her spot. However, the sudden appearance of The Head of the Demon had thrown Oliver for a loop and he too was stuck in one place staring at the man in front of him.

"So quiet." Ra's muttered to himself. "You seem quite shocked."

"How did you get in here?" Oliver growled, noticing Roy and Diggle moving slowly behind him. Quickly, Oliver waved them down, begging them silently to remain in place.

"Seriously, Mr. Queen, I've had Slade Wilson, Tommy Merlyn, Malcolm Merlyn and even Ms. Lance's sister in my employ at one time or another. There is very little that I don't know about you."

"So that's why you hired Slade?" Oliver said firmly. "You just wanted him for information."

Behind his back, Oliver found one of his recording arrows and subtly hit record. He was certain that Ra's knew what he was doing but Ra's didn't stop him, so he kept going.

"Of course." Ra's said as if it were the obvious thing in the world. "He's skills are adequate but it was the information I needed. You see when I indentified Starling City as a potential target, I knew that you were going to be an issue. So, I made it my business to get as much information as possible on you. I brought Malcolm Merlyn back in the fold and then, once I had the information I needed from him, I killed him. I brought Tommy Merlyn back to life for information on you. He actually turned out to be a believer so he lived. I hired Wilson for more information on you. But the kicker was the information that my daughter was able to get out of Sara Lance."

"Excuse me?" Laurel asked hotly.

"When I knew that Sara Lance knew Oliver Queen and that Oliver Queen was the Arrow, I asked Nyssa to get close to Sara. Now, she may have taken that a bit too far but in the end, she got the job done. She talked all about you and Laurel and how much she loved you and on and on. It was a bit pathetic actually listening to hours of her babbling about the two of you."

"You bastard!" Laurel shouted, launching herself at him.

Oliver was too far away to stop her, despite his best attempts. It was no problem, however. Ra's obviously had no real interest in killing Laurel, yet. So, he simply grabbed her by the throat as he launched herself at him, squeezing in just the right place to cause her to pass out. Oliver quickly looked down to make sure she was still breathing. When he saw that, he looked back up at Ra's, who had a strangely satisfied look on his face.

"You'd better get to work on her training quickly, Mr. Queen, or else she may face the sting of death's hand sooner rather than later."

"Why are you here?"

"To accept your surrender."

"You've got to be kidding." Diggle said, finally breaking his silence. "You come in here outnumbered at least three, if not four, to one and accept our surrender?"

"I do." Ra's confirmed confidently.

"Man, this dude is crazy."

"Crazy and confidence can often be confused, Mr. Diggle." Ra's said in return. "Now, if you choose, right now, to metaphorically lay down your arms, I will spare the lives of everyone else in the room, Mr. Queen. Before you ask, regardless of what you say, I will not believe that you intend to give me your city. You are simply too stubborn. However, if you lay down your life, I promise, on my own life, that your family and friends will not be harmed."

"Don't even think about it." Felicity growled, venom firing from her mouth in a way that Oliver had rarely heard from her. It was then that Oliver remembered that Sara had been the only real female friend Felicity had ever had. In a way that was different from Laurel and Oliver, Felicity was probably just as hurt as they were.

"Agreed." Roy said softly from behind him.

"Your friends seems intent on dying with you instead of simply watching you die." Ra's said, rubbing his temples in obvious frustration. "I do not seek the death of anyone in this room. Even you, Mr. Queen, are not essential to my plans. I have no interest in you, your family or your friends. However, you stand between me and what I want and in the last four hundred years, no man or woman that has done that has lived to tell the tale."

"Every streak is made to be broken." Oliver quipped softly before reaching sideways for his bow. Seeing that, Oliver expected Ra's to rush him. Instead, Ra's simply nodded and readied himself for attack.

In an instant, Oliver went from stationary to moving at full speed, launching himself at Ra's. Behind him, Oliver could see Roy following him with his pair of knives and Diggle behind him with a pair of escrima sticks.

However, even three on one, this was not a fair fight. Roy and Diggle, despite their experience over the years, simply weren't equipped to fight someone on the level of Ra's al Ghul. Even Oliver was only barely qualified as he had fought a Mirakuru-enraged Slade Wilson to a standstill after taking a beating from him.

But fighting Slade Wilson was so different from Ra's al Ghul, there wasn't any sense in making a comparison. While Slade's fighting style was brash and forceful, seeking to cause injury through blunt force, Ra's al Ghul was quick and deft using every motion thrown at him against his opponent.

Oliver's first swing caught Ra's in the forearms. Quickly, Ra's dropped his arms, forcing the bow down and lowering Oliver's defense. Taking advantage of that, a solid right hook struck Oliver in the jaw. The second the fist hit its mark, Oliver could feel his jaw crack. Dropping to the floor, Oliver watched as Ra's quickly took out Diggle and Roy with by striking Diggle's already broken arm with a vicious strike and then following it up with a crushing kick to Roy's knee cap, severely hyper-extending it.

Instantly the pair fell to the floor and despite trying with all their might, Oliver knew they weren't getting back up. Instead, Oliver fought the pain in his jaw and stood, falling in line face to face with the Head of the Demon. As Oliver stood, he noticed that Laurel had wisely not moved. He worried that she intended to get involved in this fight. However, Oliver was pleased to see that her mind finally caught up with her. As Oliver threw a careful left jab, Laurel jumped forward and grabbed Felicity, pulling her away from the two fighting men.

Oliver's jab was blocked simply and countered with a pair of stiff uppercuts to his chest. A third was about to strike its intended target before Oliver blocked it, striking back with a solid elbow to Ra's' jaw. Stunned, Ra's fell back into a defensive stance, a smirk on his face.

"Wilson wasn't lying. You are quite talented, Queen. Another hundred years and you could probably match me evenly. Unfortunately, your stubbornness means that you wouldn't have seen that long anyway."

Quickly, Ra's launched himself at Oliver. Oliver, taking a step back, thought himself prepared. He was wrong. Ra's strong high strike was simply a way to raise Oliver's defense too high. When that happened, a knee came up into Oliver's stomach, knocking the air out of him and doubling him over in pain. Following that, a kick to the face blasted Oliver back and flat onto his back. Looking up, Oliver watched as Ra's boot came down firmly on his face, finishing the breaking of both his nose and his jaw.

Another foot went to come down but Oliver was able to roll out of the way before it landed. Rolling to his feet, Oliver noticed that his feet were unsteady, his vision blurring.  _I've probably got a concussion,_ he thought to himself. However, that could not stop him. Steadying himself, Oliver jumped forward. Unfortunately, Ra's was ready and waiting. When Oliver planted his left foot in front of Ra's, he simply stepped up and kicked straight through Oliver's knee, forcing Oliver to collapse to the ground. At the very least, Oliver's knee had been hyper-extended. At its worst, Oliver could be looking at a tear of his ACL, something which he would recover from faster than normal but would require him to very much change how he fought.

Just as the pain started to overwhelm him, Oliver saw Ra's lean down in front of him.

"You won't die yet, Mr. Queen. I will save that for when your city is mine."

Then, Ra's disappeared from view. Having done everything he could, Oliver slipped into the familiar state of unconsciousness.

* * *

For just about a month after Ra's' appearance at The ArrowCave, no one heard hide nor hair of Ra's, Nyssa or any other member of The League of Assassins. Tommy made no strikes against former Tempest members and the city seemed to think that the worst had passed them.

Oliver knew better. Oliver had a sneaking suspicion that Ra's was simply waiting. Being over four hundred years old probably gave you patience that no one else had mastered and it mattered in this case. It was Oliver's best guess that Ra's was waiting for another appearance of The Arrow before continuing his assault.

Oliver's injuries had been almost exactly as he had expected: fractured jaw, dislocated knee and broken nose. All three of them were fixed relatively quickly but the combination of the three prevented Oliver from returning to his nightly activities. Not that they had stopped working. Every night, Oliver and his injured team, including Laurel, convened at The ArrowCave to continue digitally scouring the city for any record of The League.

Of course, they found nothing.

But good things did happen during this time. In one month, Laurel had proven to be a very dedicated student. Often showing up before nine to get a workout in before she worked with Oliver. At this point, however, the training was simply physical. Oliver knew that both he and Laurel were dealing with Sara's death difficultly. Neither of them spoke very often and when they did, it was in short sentences. Neither of them sought guidance or assistance from anyone else.

Even Oliver's relationship with Felicity had become testy. Numerous times over the last month, Oliver and Felicity had ended up screaming at each other in the cave before apologizing to each other for their behavior the next morning. However, Oliver knew that if things didn't change soon, she was going to give up on Oliver.

And he couldn't blame her but for whatever reason, he was unable to let Sara's death go. Ra's had been right. Sara's death did weigh heavy on him. Almost every night he woke screaming as he watched Sara's eye close one final time or listening to her repeatedly blame him for her death.

Needless to say, Oliver didn't sleep much. However, Oliver did hope that when the time came for Oliver to talk to Laurel about Sara, and the time was coming soon, that it would bring some much needed closure to the two of them.

God could only hope.

* * *

"You look nice." Oliver said to his sister as she raced around the living room at Queen Mansion. Oliver had taken to spending much of his time there since he had no real work to do during the day. Unfortunately, Felicity did and much of their current work, she was required for. So, Oliver spent a lot of time simply wandering around The Queen Estate, his mind wandering in a thousand directions.

"Thanks." Thea replied. "Some guy from Metropolis is coming in for an interview."

"Metropolis?" Oliver asked, his interest suddenly piqued. "What's his name?"

"Dent or something like that?" Thea answered. "I'm not exactly sure. One of your assistants got us the interview."

"His name is Kent. Clark Kent." Oliver replied, suddenly very nervous before his mind turned to the other part of that response. "Us?"

"Yes, he wants to interview us as a pair. How we're dealing with the changes at QC or something like that."

"Sure." Oliver said, suddenly not sure before gingerly standing. "I'll go change. When will he be here?"

As if by providence, the doorbell rang.

"You know what I'll just go grab some stuff and meet you in the foryer" Oliver replied softly, hoping not to worry her.

"OK." she said as she walked out of the room.

Now seemed to be the best time to test his knee. So, Oliver raced up the stairs and grabbed his bow, several arrows, a vial of pit viper venom and a case of throwing knives. Once he had them, he raced back down the stairs and stashed each item in separate places in the living room before joining Thea and their guest in the entrance hall.

Their guest was most certainly Clark Kent otherwise known as Superman, the newest hero in Metropolis. Approaching the pair, Oliver was glad that he had snuck a single knife into his pocket, just in case he had to use it.

"Mr. Queen, Clark Kent."

"Clark." Oliver said with a smile as the two shook hands. The second they made contact, Oliver could feel the strength coming off this man and was suddenly afraid for his sister's life. Regardless of whether Clark had said he meant no harm, he wasn't sure that he trusted the alien yet. "Please come to the living room."

"Absolutely." Kent said with a grin before taking a step forward. Oliver watched as Kent tripped over the edge of the carpet and fell suddenly to the floor, his glasses coming off in the process.

If anyone else would have been watching, they certainly would have been fooled. Unfortunately for Kent, Oliver wasn't just anyone. With a grin, Oliver helped Kent to his feet before speaking again.

"She knows that I am The Green Arrow, Kent." Oliver growled slightly. "You can cut the act and come in and sit down."

"Ollie, what is this?"

"I'll explain in a second." Oliver replied as he led the pair of them to the living room.

Once they were in the room, Oliver pointed for Clark to sit in a chair opposite himself and Thea. Upon being seated, Oliver spoke again.

"Thea, this is Clark Kent. He's also Metropolis' Superman."

"Excuse me?" Thea uttered.

"He is. The flying, fighting super machine from Metropolis is this man right here."

"Bullshit."

"It is." Oliver confirmed. "He tries to act as if he's a simple, bumbling reporter. However, to anyone with a trained eye, the act is obvious. He makes it too deliberate and for that reason alone, it's pretty easy to spot."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kent grumbled.

"You do that." Oliver replied. "Now, what the hell are you doing in my house?"

"Straight to the point, I see." Kent replied simply before taking his glasses off. Without them on, it immediately became obvious to both Thea and Oliver that this truly was the Superman. Oliver would fill Thea in on the more outstanding details later. "Well here's the point, The Green Arrow hasn't been seen for almost a month and we were worried that you had decided to quit."

"Far from it." Oliver confirmed. "Unfortunately, I was injured and was forced to take a leave of absence."

"I see."

"Who do you mean by us?"

"You know who." Kent replied cryptically.

"Of course." Oliver replied, dumb founded that he hadn't thought of it.

" _He_ wanted me to ask if your injuries have something to do with Ra's al Ghul."

"They do."

"Do you need help?"

For a second, Oliver considered asking Kent for his help. However, Oliver needed to know that if they weren't there that he was still capable of stopping someone like Ra's al Ghul.

"No." Oliver replied shortly. "I have made some mistakes in how I chose to approach Ra's but I do believe that I've learned my lesson."

"Good. Now, there is something else I want you to discuss with you."

"And that is?"

"This." Kent said, holding out the surprisingly durable suitcase that he brought with him.

Bringing it closer to him, Oliver opened it to see an arrowhead. But not just any arrowhead, this was an arrowhead made of a very recognizable material: Kryptonite.

"What is this?"

"A Kryptonite arrowhead. Attached to one of your bows, it can be fired from your bow just like a normal arrow."

"For what purpose?" Oliver asked in confusion.

"To take me down."

For a moment, Oliver thought this was some kind of joke. Then, Oliver noticed the look on Kent's face and realized that he was entirely serious.

"I don't understand."

"You know my power." Kent started slowly. "You know that without any assistance, you would never be able to bring me down even with  _their_ help. However, if I do have one weakness, it is this. Kryptonite, as a substance, are irradiated chunks of my former planet. The explosion of my planet's sun caused the remaining pieces to be imprinted with the radiation of its sun. Well, it is a combination of the much lower atmospheric pressure and your yellow sun that give me my abilities. Kryptonite reverses that process by introducing Krypton's red sun radiation to my system. While it won't stop me completely, it will put the two of us on a closer level."

"Why are you giving me this?" Oliver replied. "Do you intend to go on a killing rampage any time soon?"

"No, Oliver. However, I cannot say what the future holds or what powers there are out there. It is entirely possible that there is someone out there who can get in my head and force me to commit horrible atrocities. It is possible that something terrible occurs in my life and it puts me over the edge, driving me to a dangerous insanity. In any case, I have equipped you with the ability to stop me should something like that happen."

"Why me though?" Oliver asked softly. "You could have picked any of us."

"Us?" Thea finally asked. Oliver ignored her.

"I could have. However, I don't think Barry has it in him and I know that Wayne wouldn't do it."

"Kent, you are saying that if you go off the deep end, you want me to kill you."

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Kent replied firmly.

For a few seconds, Oliver thought for a second about what Kent was proposing. Then, he asked himself what would happen if someone like Kent was terrorizing his own city, what would he do?

Oliver quickly closed the case and looked up at Kent, a grin on his face.

"You've got yourself a deal."

Clark Kent comes to Starling to interview Thea and Oliver

* * *

After Clark Kent's surprise visit to Starling City, Oliver decided that he needed to get down to brass tacks with Laurel. Laurel's training had been going very well thus far. She was quick to learn with each of the weapons that Oliver had given her, she understood the computer system almost as well as he did and she had been right that her legal background would be an assistance as she understood the infrastructure of the city better than anyone.

However, her murderous tendencies, including her tendency to go for kill spots during training with Diggle, needed work. So, Oliver decided that tonight would be the night that he finally informed Laurel of her sister's story, all of it, from beginning to end. The end, when Oliver revealed the identity of Sara's killer, was going to be particularly rough. Ra's had mentioned Laurel right in front of her. Thankfully, the shock of being attacked inside the ArrowCave and then dealing with Oliver's injuries after the fact had made it so that he imagined Laurel had forgotten.

Oliver went to the ArrowCave at half past eight and only had to wait a few minutes before Laurel showed up. Oliver, knowing what he intended to do, had asked the rest of the team to not show up until ten, just in case Laurel had questions that required privacy.

"Laurel." Oliver said with a grin and a nod before gingerly standing. "Tonight's the night."

"What night?"

"When I started training you, I told you that you would eventually learn all of Sara's story or as much of it as I know."

"You did." Laurel replied softly.

"So, tonight is that night." Oliver said before walking over to the case where Sara's uniform, now replaced by the one she had actually worn upon her death, rested.

"Why do I need to know?"

"Because it's a part of my story and it will become part of yours. All three of us started in a place where death was our agent of change. If someone was in our way, we killed them because we thought that simply getting rid of the problem people would fix things."

"It won't?"

"It won't." Oliver confirmed. "Sara's story starts with the boat crash. She lay floating in the ocean for days before a freighter picked her up. This freighter was full of evil men, Laurel. But their leader, a man by the name of Dr. Anthony Ivo, was the worst. He was searching for The Mirakuru, a serum supposedly created by the Japanese during WWII. We now know that's not true but nevertheless, they searched for it. They performed experiments on men, imprisoning them on the freighter in between test."

"That sounds awful."

"It was." Oliver replied. "I was there, both before and after Ivo was there."

"After?"

"We'll get to that." Oliver said softly before continuing. "Before they were able to experiment on her, Ivo spared her, turning her into an assistant of sorts. Sara felt gratitude towards the man for saving her from his man and from the ocean. About a year after she was found, I was brought aboard the ship by Ivo's men. Sara recognized me and was able to save me. Eventually, the pair of us got off the freighter and back onto the island."

"Why would you want to go back to the island?" Laurel asked in horror.

"We didn't but as bad as the island was, the freighter had been worse. Now, we spent the months fighting Ivo for control of the freighter. However, this is where Slade Wilson comes into the picture, do you remember him?"

"How could I forget?" Laurel replied, obviously thinking to that night at Verdant.

"Exactly. He had been with me since almost the beginning. However, at one point, to save his life, we injected him with the Mirakuru. It drove him mad and when he discovered that I had been incidentally responsible for the death of the woman he loved, he imprisoned me on the freighter, leaving Sara and some of the survivors on the island."

"The woman he loved?"

"We'll save that for another day." Oliver said sadly. "Anyway, Sara made a play to get me off the freighter, trading me for another survivor of the ship. Unfortunately, when we tried another attempt at getting to the freighter, Sara was kidnapped. I snuck my way onto the ship and got to Sara. Unfortunately, I couldn't leave without trying to cure Slade. But, by the time I had gotten to the cure, Slade had beaten me to it. We had a fight. During this fight, one of our allies was on a submarine just a few yards away from the ship. Upon my instructions, he opened fire on the ship."

In his head, Oliver could feel the freighter rock and the lights flash as the explosion rocked the ship. Instantly, he could feel the water rising around him once again, just as it had all those years ago.

"Instantly, a hole opened up in the side of the ship and Sara was dragged out. I was certain she was dead."

"Oliver..."

"Let me finish." Oliver growled. Even a month after Sara's death, talking about her was difficult. Talking about this part of her life, the part that Oliver had unwittingly pushed her towards, was the worst.

"When she had gotten pulled out of the boat, she swam back to the island. There, a ship found her."

"Her? Where were you?"

"This is Sara's story, not mine." Oliver said with a grin. "Let's just say that for a brief time, they weren't going to find me on the island."

"OK?"

"Anyway, the ship belonged to Nyssa al Ghul, the daughter of the man who attacked us a month ago. You've met her."

"The woman at the docks."

"The woman at the docks." Oliver agreed. "She brought Sara to her home in the forbidden city of Nanda Parbat, high in the Tibetan mountains, home of The League of Assassins. There, Sara, who had already become a tougher version of the one that had left Starling City, again felt gratitude towards her rescuers. She swore allegiance to The League of Assassins and began training."

At this point, Oliver's leg was starting to ache so he sat, continuing his story.

"I never found out exactly how long she was there or what exactly she did." Oliver said softly. "She never told anyone I don't think."

"She never told me any of us." Laurel said sadly. "How did I even feel like I knew my sister? You knew all of this but I didn't."

"Laurel, do you feel like you know me?"

"Yes. For the most part." Laurel replied after thinking for a beat.

"There's more about me that you don't know. My time on the island, my time away from the island, my first few years as The Arrow. It's hard to talk about, Laurel. It's not that we didn't trust you. It's that reliving these things was so hard on us."

"OK. So what happened next?"

"Like I said, I'm not sure." Oliver reiterated. "However, I do know the League's philosophy: if someone disagrees with your ideology, kill them. And I do know that Sara did a lot of that. She was one of Ra's al Ghul's top international assassins. She told me stories from China, South Africa and Argentina. Those were just the few stories she told me."

"Why didn't she come home?"

"Because, in her mind, Sara Lance was dead. She took a new moniker, one that would become her name here."

"The Canary." Laurel whispered.

"Yes, The Canary, in honor of you, I believe."

All Laurel did was nod her head.

"It was The Undertaking that brought her back. She first came back in the shadows, hiding from all of us, watching us from afar. Eventually, she approached me and then in turn, revealed herself to her father and then the rest of you. Once she was here, she joined my team. But this is the single most important part. She and I did not see eye to eye anymore."

"Anymore." Oliver said. "After Tommy's death, I realized that killing everyone was not a way to go. Tommy had seen me as a murderer and to honor him, I changed. I came back from my hiatus and made it my business  _not_ to kill everyone I faced. Sometimes, I was unsuccessful but for the most part, my new creed worked."

"Sara's creed was different. Her's was still in the vein of The League. So, when it came to those we fought, she asked me to kill. I refused. She would kill indiscriminately. I would scold her. We may have been dating but we were fighting about our evening activities often. Then, Roy went on his rampage through the city. When he came to Verdant, Sara had him lined up. She would have killed him if I hadn't intervened."

"God."

"It was at that moment that Sara realized that I had a point. That death wasn't the only option and that was there was always a chance for redemption. That is something that as you keep moving forward with us, I need you to remember. I need you to remember it like your life depends on it."

"Why?"

"Because you are going to be very upset by the last part of this story."

"What's the last part of the story?" Laurel asked with concern.

"Her death." Oliver said sadly. "What do you already know?"

"I know she was at The Starling Plaza. I know that she was fighting The Dark Archer." Laurel replied, listing things off. "What did Malcolm Merlyn want with Sara?"

"Well, he didn't want anything with her because he's dead."

"Excuse me?"

"Malcolm Merlyn is dead." Oliver replied. "I know that before Slade's return, we saw him again. Well, I've seen his corpse and it was him."

"Then who is The Dark Archer now?"

"Tommy."

The look on Laurel's face surprisingly didn't change. During Oliver's story, she had been watching him with interest as she was informed about the side of her sister that she barely knew. However, once she realized what Oliver's words had meant, she sat in the seat next to him, slumping as she did.

"How?"

"The Mirakuru. It has a surprising number of abilities, like, if given quickly, the ability to bring people back from the dead. From the moment of his death, Tommy's body was taken by The League as punishment for Malcolm's crimes. He was then resurrected and made an Assassin. As you heard, it was initially so that he could provide information on me. However, Tommy proved to be very successful as an Assassin and was allowed to live."

"I can't believe it."

"I sent Sara to fight Tommy."

"What?" Laurel roared to life.

"It was the situation at hand. I knew that Tommy was trained by The League and Sara fought well against Assassins. So, I sent her. Unfortunately, Ra's had planned for that and had trained Tommy to fight Sara specifically. She walked into an ambush of my making."

"Oliver."

"Don't, Laurel." Oliver growled, standing and coming face to face with Sara's mask. "I will take Sara's death above every other that I have survived in my life to my grave. This was my fault. Ra's beat me at a game that I didn't even know I was playing and I should have."

"Oliver."

This time, Laurel came up from behind him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him, placing her head in between his shoulder blades. "Sara fought with you. She fought  _because_ of you. Like you said, this is part of your story too. Your part is that you allowed someone to out-think you."

"It won't happen again."

"I'll help." she muttered softly.

"That's the plan." Oliver said before turning around. "Sara started as someone who craved murder and death as a means to an end. She ended her life as a hero, someone who fought for others without destroying themselves in the process. Remember that when you take up her mantle."

"The Black Canary."

"No, it's just The Canary." Oliver corrected.

"Not anymore." Laurel replied. "If I'm doing this to honor my sister, it's also my way to mourn her. To feel close to her. It only seems fitting that this Canary be black."

"Works for me."

* * *

That night had been another slow one. Occasionally over the past month, they had found traces of The League in Starling City. Unfortunately with Oliver out of commission, they were forced to follow these hints digitally, never pressing them in person. After Oliver had finished talking to Laurel, he had settled down with Felicity and Diggle, working the computer.

After a long night of finding nothing, Oliver sent the rest of the team home, promising to lock up after the computers finished working their magic.

This was not at all his intention. Over the last month, Oliver had discussed with each member of his team individually what they thought they should do with Slade. For a month, they had kept him in the cells in The ArrowCave, not once letting him out. Felicity still favored letting him get hit by an airplane, Roy had no opinion and Oliver hadn't asked Laurel.

However, Diggle did have an opinion.

"I know you recorded that conversation with al Ghul."

"I did." Oliver had confirmed.

"Show it to him." Diggle replied. "It may not get him off our back permanently but it may point him in the right direction for awhile."

"It's worth a shot."

So, that's what he did. Slowly, he released the locks before stepping into the tiny cell.

"Queen. I thought you had forgotten me."

"Oh, I could never forget you, Slade." Oliver replied with a grin. "You look like shit."

He truly did. While Oliver never inflicted any pain on him, he had only fed him what was basic to his survival. He had only been allowed one shower at this point and his beard had gone from neat and trimmed to a shaggy mess in only a month.

"I appreciate the company, kid, but why the hell did you come here?"

"To show you this."

Oliver pulled out his recorder arrow and hit play, letting Slade listen to Ra's al Ghul brag about Slade's "adequate" skills and the fact that he was only needed for information. The more Slade listened to, the more obviously angry he got. Finally, he'd had enough.

"What do you want?"

"Well, if you are anything like the Slade Wilson I know, you don't like being played? I imagine you want to tear Ra's al Ghul's throat out right now."

"With my bare hands!" Slade roared.

"Then do it." Oliver whispered softly towards him before clicking the button on Slade's cuffs, letting them loose.

"What?" Slade asked, suddenly confused.

"Do it. Go after him. Take him down."

"What's the catch?"

"There's no catch, not really." Oliver replied. "You may have tried to destroy the city but Ra's wants something worse: control. He will kill everyone slowly and take control over the years. No city deserves that. So, I'll release you. I'm not taking you to ARGUS or the Feds or anything like that. However, your release has a condition: you help me stop Ra's. When you do that, I let you leave Starling City and assuming you never come back, I won't chase you."

"What makes you think that I would believe you?"

"You think that I want to do this?" Oliver asked harshly. "Slade, you nearly destroyed my city and I still think that Ra's al Ghul is worse than you. Plus, I have seen you in the video clips as time as gone on in here. Regardless of what you would say to me now, I know that there's more of the old Slade in there than you would ever care to admit. That version of Slade Wilson had my back, saved my life quite a few times and that's a version that I trust."

With that, Oliver stood.

"When I shut that door, this room will gas up since the cuffs are off. If you are in here, you will wake up with a migraine that you cannot possibly imagine. Your other option is to step out of that door, retrieve your armor and find Ra's al Ghul. You find him and let me know and then we can take him down together. We work together one more time and then you get out of town. What do you say?"

Oliver extended his hand towards his friend and enemy, hoping that he would come to his sense. Finally, he snorted, shook his head and then grasped Oliver's hand.

"One more for the road, eh kid?"

"Not like I have much choice, do I?"

 


	12. XI: Harper

"You did what!?"

That had been just about the reaction that Oliver had expected.

"I released Slade." Oliver repeated, holding his hands up as every other person in the room had tried to verbally assault him. "I promise that there's a good reason for this."

"Doubtful." Diggle grumbled. "But you can try and explain anyway."

"I will. Slade is still dangerous to us, yes. However, he's not as dangerous to us anymore."

"What the fuck could possibly make you think that?" Felicity shouted before covering her mouth when she realized what she had just said.

"Because I know Slade. Every day he was here, I went and talked to him for a little bit. Every day, he seemed a little bit more like the Slade I knew. Now, I don't hold out any hope for that Slade to ever return fully. However, I do think that there's a part of him that's coming back to us. Also, we are no longer the main target of his rage."

"Who is?" Roy asked.

"Ra's." Felicity replied, rolling her eyes slightly before turning back on Oliver. "Just because we're not at the top of his poo-poo list right now doesn't mean that we won't be there eventually."

"Yes and if that happens, we deal with it then. For now, we have help in dealing with Ra's and that's the more pressing matter."

"Either way man, you got to talk to us about this kind of thing." Diggle scolded Oliver harshly. "I've been telling you for years that this isn't just your mission anymore. We need to be let in on these decisions."

"You're probably right." Oliver admitted.

"I am right, damn it." Diggle interrupted. "But I've also accepted that this is just who you are. As much as you say that you trust us to help you, you're never going to treat this as a team. This will always be your show and we're just here to do what you say."

Every few months, Oliver would invariably do something without consulting the rest of the Team. When these things happened, the typical reaction from the rest of the team was simply to roll their eyes. They knew that Oliver had started this mission and that he sometimes had to deal with the fact that it wasn't just his anymore.

But the one person that would never let him get away forgetting that was Diggle. Every time Oliver made one of those selfish decisions, Diggle would verbally undress him for it. Sometimes he would do it front of everyone else, sometimes he would do it in private. Either way, Oliver knew it was coming. He didn't resent these talks as much as he normally did. He knew that it was Diggle's way of keeping him grounded and reminding him that he wasn't alone anymore.

"How's Andrew?" Oliver asked softly.

"Fine. Don't change the subject." Diggle replied, although a grin did slip into the corner of his mouth as he answered.

Having successfully diffused the tension, Oliver grinned and took a seat next to Laurel at the arrow tray.

"You're right, Dig. I should have consulted with you. At the very least, I should have told you what I planned to do before I had done it."

"You still would have done it if we had argued against it?" Laurel asked, a shocked look on her face.

"Possibly. "Oliver admitted. "We're fighting against the odds here with The League of Assassins. I'll take any chance I can get and deal with the consequences later. I know that may be a poor way of looking at it but we need the help."

As Oliver spoke, he looked around the ArrowCave and saw that most every person in the room nodded some sort of agreement.

All except one.

"Could you guys give us a second?" Oliver asked the rest of the Team.

Nodding with understanding, the rest of the Team either went to start training or, in Dig's case, he went home to be with his family, something he had rarely been able to do recently.

Once they were all outside of listening distance, Oliver stood and walked over to the computer bay where Felicity sat, simply staring at him.

"What?" Felicity barked as Oliver sat down next to her.

"I'm glad to see that you are your normal cheery self."

"Sorry about that. I did just hear that a guy that held me hostage for two days and then beat the one person I care about most half to death was released by that one person I care about most which seems like the most absolutely insane thing to do and that's impressive considering the list of absolutely insane things he's done and does-"

"Felicity." Oliver said, trying to interrupt Felicity's rambling.

"Which includes attack criminals armed with a bow and arrow. Most of these criminals carry automatic weapons but he takes them on with a bow and freaking arrow. That seems like a death wish. Does it seem like a death wish to you? It certainly does to me."

_"Felicity."_ Oliver said again, only this time, he placed a hand on her arm as gently as he could before looking into her eyes. The second the two of them made eye contract, Felicity stopped speaking. Oliver could have sworn that he heard her suck in only the smallest of breaths before she grew silent. Oliver presumed that years of rambling like that had certainly strengthened her breath support.

"Why?" she said softly, almost begging him. "Just why?"

"Because even with me and Roy and Diggle and Laurel and you and every other ally we have in this city, we are behind in the particular battle. Greatly behind. So, I let the dog off his leash. Yes, he could very well bite me or any one of us. However, it's just as likely that he goes after Ra's and that's a risk that I can take."

For a few seconds, Oliver watched as Felicity processed this information. Finally, she nodded her understanding, shedding one lonely tear.

"Felicity, don't think for a moment that I would ever let him hurt you."

"I know you wouldn't." Felicity replied, following it with a dark chuckle. "We have proof, remember? That bloody mess that we picked up off the floor of Verdant was you. You saving me from Slade. You not letting him hurt me."

"Don't be like that." Oliver whispered. "Remember what you said about the person you care about most? That's you, Felicity."

"Oliver, you have so many people in your life." Felicity replied, rolling her eyes. "You have Thea and Diggle and Roy and everyone else. As sad as it is, considering I ran away from you for two years, you are all I have in my life."

Oliver couldn't believe what he was hearing. In fact, he chuckled slightly when he heard the last part.

"What's so funny?" Felicity asked, obviously offended.

"It's just that you think you're so alone in this world." Oliver answered, shaking his head. "But what you don't realize is that you have Thea and Diggle and Roy too. This, all of it, is a family. Once you're in, you're in. We can deal with Ra's and you can decide to never step foot inside this place again, you can leave Starling and never return and if in twenty years you come back, you will still be part of this family."

"You really mean that, don't you?" Felicity asked, a look of bewilderment on her face.

"I've told you that I love you. The truth is that we all love you." Oliver replied before adding. "I just love you more."

"Shut up." Felicity said, slapping Oliver in the arm.

"Gladly. We good?"

"We were never not good." Felicity replied before leaning in and kissing Oliver softly on the lips.

For a second, Oliver couldn't think, move or breath. All he could think of was what had just happened.

"Did you mean to do that?" Oliver asked, slightly concerned.

"I did." Felicity said softly. "Didn't even miss or anything."

"Why?"

"I'm not exactly sure." Felicity replied in confusion. "Just seemed like the right thing to do. I'm tired of trying to fight it anymore."

"About damn time."

Felicity giggled a bit before she answered. "This doesn't mean anything yet, Oliver. We have to stop Ra's before anything like that can happen."

"Deal."

* * *

The next morning, the entirety of Team Arrow met again. Oliver had wished to discuss more than just Slade the previous night. Unfortunately, Felicity's obvious anger and frustration with Oliver's decision had distracted him. So, Oliver had called another meeting of the Team to discuss how they were going to approach a potential invasion by The League of Assassins.

"Here's the plan." Oliver said before he activated a large touchscreen on the wall with a large map of Starling City on it. "We don't know exactly how Ra's is going to do this. However, I think the plan will eventually be to take control of the city by force. Regardless of the niceties that Ra's al Ghul may have tried to throw on me with simply controlling elected officials, I get the sense that he's going to eventually be required to attack the city."

"What kind of attack are we talking about?" Laurel asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea. More than likely, it would be a series of organized strikes against some of the important players in the city. With them out of the way, they can use their moles to take control of the city. Then, once that's done, they move massive amounts of their forces into the city and physically take control."

"Won't the government have a fail safe? A way to make sure that Ra's can't take control?" Felicity questioned.

"Yes but I expect Ra's to have some sort of counter for that. Something that will prevent the military or the government from acting. He's too smart not to."

Looking around the room, Oliver could see the fear on the eyes of almost everyone in the room. They had never faced a threat like this before. Malcolm Merlyn and his Undertaking had been small potatoes compared to this. Even Slade with his crew of Mirakuru monsters and Isabel Rochev in his back pocket hadn't been even close to this and he had needed The League of Assassins' help to win that battle.

Sara, at her very best, had been able to fight Oliver almost to a standstill and had been able to beat Diggle with almost relative ease. Now, Team Arrow, the five of them, were preparing to fight possibly hundreds or thousands of these men and women, some of the world's most skilled fighters. Oliver was probably the only one that was consistently on par with all of them. Diggle could fight most of them and Roy had definitely improved over the years, although Oliver doubted his chances against some of the more experienced members of The League.

Then, there was Laurel who was a fairly skilled amateur fighter but had only been in a few real fights for her life.

And that's what this was going to be: a fight for all of their lives and the lives of everyone in Starling City.

"Ra's al Ghul is smart and he's backed by an army but he's going to be fighting in our backyard." Oliver replied, decidedly trying to turn to a more positive line of thinking. "He's not going to go for the suburbs. He's going to hit downtown, the one place we're the most familiar with."

"Yes but downtown is still huge." Roy countered. "How do we cover that whole area?"

"The same way we split up our evening patrols." Oliver answered firmly before turning back to the board. With a single touch, most of Starling City disappeared with only downtown remaining, the map split into four colored patches. "Roy, you'll take the biggest portion with the main highways. Your main task will be to monitor those freeways and report any suspicious activities. If you see any vehicles, I want you to cause some minor accidents and create some major gridlock on those freeways. That should, at the very least, slow them down. Laurel, you'll operate from the top of Queen Tower. From there, you'll get a 360 view of the city."

"You're going to stick me on the top of the building?" Laurel asked skeptically. "What's the point of having me train at all if you're just going to keep me away from the fighting?"

"The point is that despite the progress you've made, you still aren't ready for this kind of action. So, I put you up there because you'll know our plans and you'll get a good view of the city. From there, you'll be able to follow The League's movements and call them out to us. OK?"

"Fine." Laurel said softly.

"Good." Oliver said thankfully before during to Diggle. "You'll get the arena district. I'll take the financial district. We'll work rooftops and attempt to take out smaller groups before teaming back up. Roy, once you're done ensuring that the highways are impassible, you'll join us. We'll meet at the base of Queen Tower, check in briefly with Laurel and then ride out to take down the larger groups."

"You do realize that this plan misses one very important part of Ra's plan, right?"

That voice had been Felicity's. Since her return to The ArrowCave, she had been consistently pointing out the weaknesses in Oliver's plans. Whether it was her way to stay distant or whether she had just become more vocal, Oliver wasn't sure. What he did know is that he still was used to the complete support he had been used to from her.

"What's that, Felicity?"

"You said that Ra's probably intends to take out important targets in Starling and then fill in with the big guns later. This plan assumes that those important targets have already gone down."

"It does."

"WHAT?" Laurel shouted. "Your "plan" involves allowing Ra's to kill some of the city's leaders."

"Not allow." Oliver corrected. "However, we've been working behind the curve on this the whole time. If I have to choose between the whole city or its leaders, I pick the city. We have this plan in place. Now, we focus our attention on doing our best to save its leaders  _before_ we have to put this plan in place."

Looking around the room, Oliver saw that the rest of the team nodded in agreement with Oliver's idea. Breathing a sigh of relief, Oliver moved forward, touching the screen again. This time, the map of the city disappeared and another much more focused map popped up.

"Merlyn Manor?" Laurel asked, almost to herself.

"Yes." Oliver nodded. "We've been looking for where Ra's or Tommy has been hiding and all the signs that Felicity has managed to find, thin as though they may be, have been pointing us towards Merlyn Manor. More than likely, they're using it as some sort of satellite base. While we probably won't find much there, I think it's about time to check it out."

"Why now?" Diggle inquired.

"Felicity." Oliver said, relinquishing the floor to the blonde. Standing quickly, she marched over to the display, tapping it again. This time, the map of Starling City returned with several red dots marking various locations around the city.

"Over the past month, the news have captured a number of reports of men dressed in black wandering the rooftops of the city. We believe that these are members of The League. Also, Diggle and Roy have seen a few League members during their patrols. The locations sighted are the red dots. However, these don't show us the true story."

Again, Felicity tapped the screen. This time, the red dots were replaced with color-coded dots along with a date for clarification.

"The closer the dot is to black, the more recent. So, you'll notice the white ones at the very beginning were all near Merlyn Manor or at least with a sufficient range. However, as the month has progressed, the sightings have moved further and further away from the manor. Plus, the sightings all occur at relatively the same times. While it doesn't necessarily give us the ability to figure out their current location, I think it's safe to say that they've largely moved away from Merlyn Manor as a prime base of operations."

"So we can sneak in and see if there's any information there that will help us?" Diggle asked.

"That is our immediate plan. The four of us go to Merlyn Manor. Diggle and Laurel, you will remain outside as eyes on and back-up, if needed. Roy and I will head inside and gather any information we can. Felicity will remain here and monitor the city to ensure that we're not being snuck up on."

"Got it." Felicity confirmed.

"Good." Oliver replied. "We'll go tonight. Go home and get some rest. The Green Arrow is returning to Starling City tonight which could mean a very long few days for us."

* * *

At nearly midnight, the field team of Team Arrow approached Merlyn Manor in a black, unmarked van. Parking hidden in the woods, Oliver spoke quietly.

"I want radio silence unless you are seeing something that is of immediate concern to us inside. Understood?"

"We got it, Queen." Diggle replied. "Get in there."

"You ready?" Oliver asked to Roy.

"After you, old man." Roy joked softly.

"Nice."

Moving as deliberately as possible, Oliver opened the back doors of the van before sliding out. Roy followed him before shutting the doors silently. Quickly, Oliver stepped a few feet away from Roy.

"Arsenal, comm check."

_"I hear you loud and clear."_ Roy muttered softly.

"Oracle, comm check."

_"I still hate that codename."_ Felicity replied.

"Well come up with something different." Oliver answered softly before sprinting softly towards the front door of Merlyn Manor. Oliver had anticipated that there would be a roaming patrol both inside and out of the house. So, before he entered the house, he had a request from Felicity.

"Oracle, double check heat signatures."

_"Hacking ARGUS satellites now...nothing. Just the four of you and there's no masking software. You're alone."_

"Good." Oliver replied before turning to Roy, who was right behind him. "That doesn't mean there still isn't security. Eyes up, bow ready."

Roy's response was a silent nod. Finally, Oliver opened the front door, surprised that it wasn't locked. Quietly, the pair moved into the main hall. As they entered the house, Oliver got a strangely depressing sense of Déjà vu. Oliver had been inside this house countless times and yet, here he was, sneaking in for the first time since The Undertaking.

As Oliver looked around, nothing seemed to have changed. Everything was exactly where he remembered it being. Thinking quickly, Oliver moved through the house, thoroughly examining each room. For nearly a half hour, Oliver and Roy scanned the house, which appeared to be just as abandoned as it had been before The League came to Starling.

Then, they got to Tommy's old room and Oliver could instantly see that things had changed. In the past, the walls of the room had been lined with posters of supermodels (most of which Tommy had slept with). Now, the posters were gone, replaced with giant maps of Starling City and The United States. On the map of Starling City, numerous important landmarks, including both Queen Tower and Queen Mansion, were marked with a red X. Then, on the map of The United States, there were circles around numerous cities, including Starling City.

However, that was not their most interesting find.

"Look at this." Roy whispered, motioning for him to come to him.

Oliver had been so engrossed with the maps that he hadn't noticed a laptop sitting on the stand next to his bed. It was a brand new model, black with a small silver "M" painted on it. Tommy's ego had never allowed him to not identify things that were his own. Apparently, things weren't too different with this newer version of Tommy.

"Take it. We'll look at it later." Oliver replied before pulling out his phone. "Oracle, I'm taking some photos of maps in Merlyn's room. Please store them on the cloud now."

_"Will do."_

Swiftly, Oliver took several photos of each map on the wall before placing his phone back in his jacket pocket. Looking around the room, Oliver saw that there was obviously nothing else of interest there.

Until there was.

Just as they were about to leave the room, a projector that had previously been hidden in the corner activated, showering the far wall of the room with the image of the new Thomas Merlyn.

"Oliver, I was wondering when you would show up." Tommy taunted him.

"Don't do this, Tommy." Oliver begged. "You can still stop this."

"Don't bother trying to beg me to come back to the light side, Queen." Tommy growled. "Firstly, this is a recording, set to activate after someone had entered the room. And second, I have no desire to join you. I've seen that when you came to Starling City, you were right. Killing those who would harm others is the  _only_ way to fix the society we live in. But now? You're weak. You've lost your edge and it will kill you before we are through."

"Tommy..." Oliver whispered, knowing that Tommy couldn't hear him.

"You have ten seconds."

Suddenly, Oliver's eyes opened wide in terror. Knowing that whatever Tommy was warning them about would be bad, Oliver screamed.

_**"GOOO!"** _

Instantly, Roy leapt out of the window at the far side of the room, falling three stories into a bush that comforted his fall. Still, Oliver heard him growl as he hit the ground. Quickly, Oliver followed him, rolling towards his back to cushion his fall even more.

But it hadn't been the fall that had hurt him. It was the thorns and one that was roughly three inches in length imbedded itself in the back of Oliver's leg. Growling, Oliver stood and limped as quickly as he could.

Thankfully, he had been able to move fast enough to avoid the massive explosion that rocked him, knocking him to the ground. Shaking the shock of the blast out of his system, Oliver reached down and removed the thorn, cursing silently as he did.

Then, he turned to see the entirety of Merlyn Manor lit up like a Christmas tree. The flames coming off the building were oppressively hot, feeling like it was cooking Oliver's skin. Sad to see the childhood home of his best friend blown sky high by that friend, Oliver turned and marched back towards the van, still moving a hair slow because of the open wound in his leg.

As he reached the van, Oliver was glad to see that Roy had gotten there and was mostly unharmed despite a few scratches from the bush.

"Do you still have the laptop?" Oliver asked as they shut the van doors behind him.

"It's ready for Felicity to do her magic." Roy replied softly.

"Good. Let's get the fuck out of here."

* * *

Two days later, all Team Arrow had to do was sit in The ArrowCave and watch as Felicity silently cursed Tommy's laptop under her breath. If they hadn't needed the information on it so badly, Oliver would have been amused. As it was, he was starting to worry about Felicity. Normally, Felicity logged onto a computer and had it under her control in seconds. Sometimes, it took her a few minutes and the longest it had ever taken her had been about two hours.

They were currently at just over two days and she had hardly left The ArrowCave at all. As Oliver looked at her, he thought about the number of times over the last two days that he had asked her to go home or change clothes or take a break. Instead, she had slept for only three hours and that had been about a day ago. She hadn't eaten. She hadn't changed out of her clothes and she hadn't left the chair she was seated in for nearly twenty hours.

About ten hours ago, Oliver had stopped asking for updates when she had grabbed one of his arrows, sticking it in his face and threatening to stick it somewhere where the sun didn't shine if he didn't let her keep working.

Leaving her alone had been a good idea.

"YES!" Felicity cried, standing with her arms thrown over her head.

"Are we in?" Oliver asked in surprise. He had never doubted that Felicity could finish the job. However, he did doubt her ability to do it without falling asleep at the computer as she was liable to do sometimes.

"We are." Felicity replied, followed by a massive yawn. "The main problem with the whole thing is that he had the computer's programs rewritten to only understand sentences and phrases written in Farsi, Chinese or Vietnamese. So, I had to freaking learn the proper translations to which one I wanted before I could do anything. Then, his computer had an evolving processor on it. Basically, it countered any move I made."

"So how did you beat it?" Laurel asked.

"I shut it off." Felicity said with a tired grin before collapsing back in her chair. "There's a lot of good information here: alternate aliases that Tommy has been using over the last few years, League projects outside the country. It's all still encrypted but from what I'm seeing, they're fairly standard."

"Get some sleep." Oliver said, placing a hand on Felicity's shoulder. Almost out of instinct, her head fell gently onto his hand. Oliver could feel the warmth of her soft skin on her hand and for a second, Oliver couldn't remember what he had just said. It had something to do with sleep but Felicity's cheek was distracting him.

"Oliver, I can finish this."

"Yes, you can. But not until you've slept for ten hours or something like that."

"Fine." Felicity replied, standing and stretching before turning to look at Oliver. "You'll let me know if something comes up."

"I will." Oliver agreed.

"Good." Felicity said softly before leaning up on her toes and kissing Oliver softly on the cheek. "You get some sleep too. You didn't sleep much more than I did."

"I caught my fair share as I sat behind you for two days."

"Fair point." Felicity said with a grin. "Alright, I'll see you later."

* * *

After Felicity had left the Cave, Oliver had hung around for a few minutes before deciding there wasn't really much else he could do. So, after he pulled the hard drive of Tommy's computer and uploaded it to their cloud to ensure that Felicity's work wouldn't be lost by a reactivated security measure, Oliver headed back to Queen Mansion.

Oliver walked into the house and quickly marched up to his bedroom, barely remembering the drive or the walk. Oliver had lied. He hadn't slept a single second that Felicity had been working. He knew how hard she was working. Suddenly, their first encounter with The Clock King popped into his head. Oliver remembered how frustrated she had been when The Clock King had beaten her at her own game.

However, that had only lasted a little less than a day of sporadic efforts. This was two straight days of attacking that computer with no luck. He could literally feel the frustration and anger flowing out of her as she worked and for that reason, he felt that he couldn't leave her. She needed to know that he was there for her.

For that reason, he hadn't slept. Not even when she had finally consented to sleep for a few hours. So, the second Oliver's head hit the pillow in his bedroom at Queen Mansion, Oliver was out.

Nearly ten hours later, Oliver was awoken by the sound of his cell phone ringing. Quickly, Oliver bounced out of bed and made his way to the desk where his phone lay. Looking at the display, he saw that Felicity was calling him.

"Felicity?" Oliver answered.

"You ready to do this?"

"Are you?" Oliver countered.

"As I'll ever be." Felicity admitted. "I'm tired but we need this information. At least I hope we need it. If this is something left there just to distract us, I'm going to be pissed."

"That's not Ra's or Tommy's style." Oliver replied firmly. "They're taunting us. They want us to know that they're coming and they're giving us the information to do just that."

"Great. Just great. I'll see you at The Foundry."

"See you there." Oliver said before hanging up.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Oliver was ready to go out the door when he heard a voice calling him.

"Ollie?"

He turned around to see Thea following him out the door.

"Thea? Where are you going?"

"That's actually what I want to talk to you about." Thea said nervously.

"Spit it out, Speedy."

"I want to come to The Foundry with you."

Whatever Oliver had expected her to say, this was not it.

"Why?" Oliver asked, squaring his shoulders back to her.

"Because for the last year and a half now, I've watched my brother and my fiance risk their lives on a nightly basis, trying to save this city. Meanwhile, what have I been doing? I've run Verdant, I've run QC's Board and now I supposedly run QC, although I feel a lot like I'm just signing things."

"Get used to that feeling."

"I'm not going to get used to that feeling, Ollie. We said that once this is over, we're finding someone else, remember? Either way, I feel like I'm not helping out as much as I could be."

"So what is it that you to do?"

Oliver watched as Thea took a deep breath, suddenly fearful of what she was going to say.

"I want to join Team Arrow."

"No." Oliver answered instantly.

"WHAT?" Thea barked back at him. "Why not?"

"It's too dangerous for you, Thea." Oliver replied. "I need you to be safe and you can't be safe if you're out there."

"So it's not too dangerous for Laurel or Roy or Diggle, but it's too dangerous for me?" Thea snapped back. "We're not even going to talk about Felicity."

"You're right about that." Oliver growled.

For a second, Oliver thought that Thea was going to jump him. However, she calmly took a large breath and reset herself. Looking up at Oliver, she spoke again, much softer than before.

"Why not me?"

"You're not ready for it."

"Then, train me!" Thea replied. "You weren't ready for it at the beginning. It took you years on that island. Diggle wasn't ready at the beginning but after his military training, he was. You decided to train Laurel. Even Sara wasn't ready at the start."

"Don't drag Sara into this." Oliver said, his voice rumbling dangerously near "ArrowVoice." "I'm having enough issues coping with that while trying to save this city from The League of Assassins without you bring up Sara's death as a way to convince me of something. In fact, it probably does the opposite of convincing me. If you ended up like Sara, it would be my fault."

"It would be mine, Ollie. I'm the one asking. I know the risks that I'm taking when I step out there. Let me prove that I can do this."

"Would you do this even if I said not to?" Oliver asked, his mind immediately wandering to the statement that Laurel had made about becoming The Black Canary with or without Oliver's head.

"I'm not sure. This is something that I feel like I need to do."

"Why? What can you even do? How are you going to help this city?"

Finally, Thea grinned.

"You're not the only one that knows how to use a bow and arrow, brother." Thea said with a grin. "I've been practicing with a bow almost every day for the last three months. I'm still not where you are but I'm definitely in a place where you give me a target, it's going down."

"Well, that's something to build off, I suppose." Oliver replied, thinking to himself as he did.

"Does that mean you'll consider it?" Thea asked excitedly. "I want you to train me. You seem to have done a good job with Laurel so far."

"Thanks, sis." Oliver said softly. "Get in the car."

"What? You're going to train me?" Thea asked, obviously surprised.

"No." Oliver said softly. "Not yet. First, you are going to help Felicity. Once Laurel is in a more consistent place and doesn't necessarily need me hovering over her all the time, we'll talk again. But, Felicity can always use your help in the ArrowCave."

"That sounds good to me."

"Good. Now, Felicity's been waiting on me so let's get moving."

* * *

As Oliver pulled into the secret parking facility hidden near the ArrowCave, Oliver could tell that Thea was visibly nervous. She had good reason. The life that she was asking to step into was dangerous. Oliver had to admit that he was worried about his sister. There was a very significant portion of him that thought that the only reason she was doing this was to be closer to Roy and him and that her main motivation was that she felt left out.

However, Oliver had seen how passionate she had been about helping back at the house. He knew that it would be a long road for her but he was also confident that she could be a help to Team Arrow.

Now, the rest of Team Arrow had to agree with him. As the Queen siblings entered the Foundry, each member of Team Arrow turned and look, a confused look on their face. Unsurprisingly, the most shocked look came from Roy.

"What in the hell is she doing here?" Roy barked at Oliver.

Oliver smirked slightly as he saw his sister's face light up in anger before relaxing as Oliver shook his head.

"That depends on you." Oliver said motioning to the whole team. "Before I left to come here, Thea asked to join Team Arrow."

Almost instantly, there was a general outcry from everyone in the room besides Felicity. Quietly, Oliver continued.

"I realize that in the past, I have made decisions without you. Some of these decisions impacted you far more than they did me. So, this will be a group decision. However, I would like two things to happen before any decision is made. First, I will explain my plan for Thea should she be accepted. Secondly, we will hear from Thea as to why she would like to join. Is that alright with everyone?"

Eventually, everyone in the room, Roy included, nodded softly, allowing Oliver to continue.

"Great. Thea will not be joining as a full-time member right away. She will only receive advanced training after I have finished with Laurel's training and after the threat of The League has been dealt with. In the meantime, she will report here to the Foundry where she will assist Felicity with anything she needs. If Felicity doesn't need anything, she will remain her and listen and learn. Once we have dealt with Ra's, I will then allow her to begin her solo training in earnest. Until that time, she will spend every other night working on improving her archery skills, which she assures me she has already been practicing in recent week. Does this plan work for everyone?"

Looking around, Oliver saw that everyone seemed to silently agree with his plan. Assuming they actually planned to allow her to join them.

"Good." Oliver said before turning to Thea. "This isn't a dictatorship, Thea. I may maintain some more control at times but this is a team. As such, each of them has the right to prevent you from joining. The vote will have to be unanimous in order to accept you."

"OK." Thea whispered softly.

"Now, tell us why you would like to join us." Oliver said before sitting down and ceding the floor to Thea.

"K." Thea replied quietly before looking up at the team. "I found out my brother was the Arrow only a few weeks after I returned to Starling City. He came to me and told me that he was tired to keeping secrets from me. Then, he told me about everything that had happened since he had come back from the island. I never revealed that I had been keeping a secret from him."

This was something that Oliver had actually expected, although he was shocked to hear it. Something had spurned Thea to this point and he knew it wasn't simply what they had discussed at the house.

"After Slade's rampage on the city, I left. When I came back, I told everyone that I had simply left to be alone. That wasn't true. When Slade's army had attacked the city, I had been on the freeway, driving out of town on Oliver's orders. Unfortunately, the freeway had been blocked by a wall of cars, preventing any passage. As Slade's army flooded towards me, I thought I was going to die. They were pulling people out of their cars and slaughtering them."

"How did you get out?" Diggle asked gently.

"My father saved me." Thea replied sadly. "He was dressed in his Archer outfit. He killed a couple dozen of them before he grabbed me. He spent the next hour trying to convince me to leave with him. He sounded crazy. So, I took off and went to Roy. I begged Roy to leave the city but he wouldn't."

"I told you I had something important to take care of." Roy muttered.

"You also told me you were done with The Arrow." Thea shot back. "Then, I found a brand new bow and arrow hidden in his closet. I knew he had lied to me. I knew that Ollie had been lying to me. Everyone seemed to be lying to me. So I did the only thing I could think to do at the time."

"You left with the one person who wasn't lying to you." Oliver filled in. "You left with Merlyn."

"I did." Thea admitted. "He took me to Europe and started training me. I got eight months into my training when I realized I had made a mistake. One night, I stole my gear away from him and disappeared. I made it to Zurich and was able to access one of Dad's old accounts. I took that money and made my way back home."

"Do you still have your bow?" Oliver asked.

"I do and I've been working my way back up to being as good as I was when I was training." Thea said. "I wasn't as good as you are but I was good."

"What made you want to join now?" Olive replied, pressing her for a real reason. Now that he knew her secret, he knew that her answer would change.

"I already told you." Thea replied.

"You lied."

For a moment, Oliver thought that she was going to continue lying. However, once she saw that he knew that something else was on her mind, she broke, tears forming in her eyes as she realized that she had been caught doing the one thing that she had hated everyone else for doing to her.

"Oliver, I have these skills. I can run faster than most, I can hit a target in between the eyes from two hundred yards away and I have basic hand-to-hand combat training. As the city collapses on itself, I sit on my hands and do nothing. Currently, I'm in charge of QC but that's going to change once this is all over. When this is over, I still want to be able to help the city. When I was younger, I was stupid, damaged. You all helped me back to my feet. But our city? It's still damaged. I want to help it back to its feet."

Finally, Oliver got to see Thea as she was. For over a year, she had lied about her training with Merlyn. Now, everything about her was out in the open. That alone showed a maturity that she hadn't always displayed in the past.

In the back of his mind, Oliver couldn't help but think what would have happened should she have stayed with Merlyn. She could either be running the streets with Tommy or laying a coffin next to Malcolm. Thankfully, neither of those options had happened. Instead, she had left Malcolm and returned to Starling where she could use her abilities to save the city.

"I think you can help this city." Laurel said firmly. "I'm in."

"Me too." Felicity added.

"I'm okay with training you." Oliver continued.

"As am I." Diggle said, although Oliver noticed that he seemed more hesitant than the rest of them.

Finally, it came down to Roy, the one person that Oliver knew would hold out for as long as he could. As much as Roy loved Thea, his desire to protect her would be forced to face off against his wanting Thea to be happy, which meant allowing her to join.

Eventually, Roy broke and with a slight grin looked at Oliver.

"We do this right. She gets absolutely every bit of training she can before she goes out on any kind of patrol."

"Absolutely." Oliver consoled him.

"OK. Then, I agree."

"You're sure?" Oliver asked when he sounded less than sure.

A beat.

"Train her."

* * *

After nearly twenty minutes of congratulating Thea for joining Team Arrow, even on a prospective basis, Oliver and Felicity finally sat down with Tommy's laptop.

"What's on it?"

"Give me a minute."

One minute turned into twenty before she finally answered him.

"I have no idea." Felicity admitted finally. "It's all written in code even once we translate it into English. This computer seems to be mostly full of communication between Tommy and someone I can guess is Ra's al Ghul or at least someone speaking for him."

"What kind of code?"

"It's like it's all written in old mythology. There are thousands of references to four mythological locations: Atlantis, Camelot, El Dorado and Mount Olympus. Along with that, there are references to hundreds of different Greek gods and characters. But again, there are four specifically mentioned."

"Which ones?" Oliver asked, his interest immediately piqued. Tommy knew that Oliver had a very keen interest in Greek mythology. This only proved more that they were intended to have this information once they figured out the code that Tommy had written it all in."

"Zeus is mentioned a fair number of times, Heracles is in there as well." Felicity replied softly, running several words scans simultaneously. "Apollo is the most common name found in these files with Ares following that."

"Zeus, Heracles, Apollo and Ares?" Oliver said softly, thinking aloud to himself. "Is there any correlation between these four figures and the four cities?"

"Well, in Gree-"

"I meant in the messages." Oliver clarified. "I know the connections between the Greek gods and Mount Olympus."

"You would, wouldn't you?" Felicity replied with a grin before she went back to work. For nearly ten minutes, she focused on the computer before turning back to Oliver. "There are two fairly clear connections. El Dorado and Ares are very clearly mentioned as connected along with Atlantis and Apollo."

"That leaves us Zeus and Heracles with Mount Olympus and Camelot." Oliver said, again think out loud. "Does that computer have a GPS tracker in it?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because more than likely, these mythical locations are real places. In fact, I have a bad feeling that they are potential targets. But, I believe that Tommy was scoping them out and he likely took this computer with him. If you check the record of where the GPS tracker has been, we might figure something out."

"It's a long shot but I'll look into it."

"We're desperately in need of some long shots to work right now." Oliver replied as he sat down behind Felicity.

For nearly an hour, Felicity worked in silence as she worked on tracking down where the computer had been. Finally, she turned back around.

"Your detective instinct must really be improving." she said with a smirk. "Over the last year, this computer has visited five places that I can tell. Nanda Parbat appears to be one. The other four are-"

"Gotham City, Starling City, Metropolis and Central City." Oliver said, reading over her shoulders.

"Dammit, Oliver, I wanted to reveal the cool information."

"Sorry." Oliver replied with a slight smile before turning back to her. "So, four cities and four mythological locations. The question now is which lines up with which?"

"Why does it matter?" Felicity asked.

"Because it's an attack plan." Diggle said, finally floating over towards the two of them. "If Tommy left this for you, he was literally leaving you his plan of attack. Once you finish translating it all, Starling will be named first. We need to know who's named after that."

"What he said." Oliver said with a grin. "In Greek mythology, Apollo is most known for having a bow and arrow. I think that's me."

"You think that each Greek myth is each city's protector?" Diggle asked.

"I do." Oliver agreed. "Which means that Atlantis is Starling City, one of the most water-oriented cities in the country."

"El Dorado has to be Metropolis." Felicity said, suddenly typing with a frenzied look while she spoke. "It has won the award for the nation's richest city for nearly a decade now."

"Which means that Clark is Ares."

"Mount Olympus and Zeus are too easy now that I think about it." Oliver shot back. "All those lightning references, it has to be Barry and Central City."

"Which leaves Camelot and Herakles, the demi-god, as Gotham City and Wayne." Diggle finished.

They had it. They didn't have the order yet but they had the four places that The League intended to attack if they finished with Starling City.

Now, to make sure that didn't happen.

"Felicity, your only job right now is to finish translating this. Thea, you do not leave her side until she's done."

"Oliver!?"

That was Roy's voice coming from the recently transported news room area of the ArrowCave. The look on his face was one of horror. Instantly, Oliver raced over to the TV. The headline was terrifying.

**"FIRST NORTH AMERICAN CASES OF EBOLA CONFIRMED AT STARLING CITY HARBOR."**

As Oliver looked on in disbelief, the news anchor continued his address.

_"...six have been confirmed at this time with one death. According to autopsy reports, this is the most aggressive form of ebola ever found outside of a lab. While ebola normally takes weeks to kill, the coroner has stated that it appears that the victim, whose name is not being released at this time, contracted the disease and was killed in less than 48 hours. As a result, the Mayor of Starling City has called for everyone to remain in their homes. If you are found on the streets without a emergency reason, you will be arrested and held for a period of 48 hours."_

"This is Ra's." Oliver growled.

"The ebola? That's impossible?" Roy replied.

"Just like the Mirakuru was impossible coming from him?" Oliver countered. "It's him. The timing and effectiveness is to convenient otherwise."

"How can we stop it?" Felicity asked from across the room.

"There's only one way to stop something like this. More than likely, he's engineered it to be more communicable and more deadly than before. With that, a quarantine won't work. There's only one thing that will work."

"A cure." Thea muttered.

"Exactly."

"There is no cure for ebola, Oliver." Diggle replied.

"Then we need to get to work."

 


	13. XII: T. Queen

Three days after Thea's admission into Team Arrow and the shocking revelation that Ra's al Ghul had released ebola onto Starling City, all members of Team Arrow, with the exception of Diggle, had opted to remain at the ArrowCave, turning the basement shelter into a hotel of sorts. When the news had broke, each had quickly raced home and packed as much clothing as they could before returning. Years ago, Oliver had decided the ArrowCave would be a good place to hole up in case of catastrophe and had packed weeks worth of food and water in one of the back storage areas.

Even with the much larger group there now, they would be fine for weeks.

Two days earlier, Oliver had left the ArrowCave and broken into the morgue at Starling General Hospital, taking numerous tissue samples for study. Once he had gotten back to the Cave, Roy and Laurel, with Felicity's instruction, had set up an anti-contaminant area. Oliver quickly undressed, stepped inside and was blasted clean before entering the rest of the ArrowCave proper.

And that's all they had done for the last two days. Oliver had sent copies of the data to WayneTech and Kord Industries but didn't expect to each back from either of them in any short time frame. Instead, Felicity and Oliver had spent the last 48 hours working on identifying and looking for a potential cure for this new ebola virus.

"This is not good." Felicity muttered to herself.

"Which part in particular?" Oliver asked softly.

As Oliver and Felicity worked, the rest of the team was seated across the large space in the newsroom area, watching the round-the-clock coverage of the outbreak.

"Every place I've looked suggests that ebola should only be communicable through blood or bodily fluids. That means that an outbreak, even in a large city like Starling City, should be nearly impossible."

"You believe that it's been altered."

"The more I think about it, the more it has to be." Felicity said softly. "I don't know why I didn't think about it earlier but it makes sense. It's already deadly but now it's actually widely communicable. Can we talk about how hard that word is to say?"

"What?" Oliver asked in surprise.

"Communicable. It's such a weird word. CommmmuniCABLE or Communiiiiiicble or Cooooomuicble. It sounds like all of them work."

"Why can't you just say that it's easily transmitted?" Oliver asked.

"Oh." Felicity said softly. "I suppose that would work but it makes me seem less smart."

"Felicity, you seeming "less smart" is still ten times smarter than anyone else in the room."

"Oh, you're just saying that." Felicity shot back, feigning embarrassment before leaning back towards Oliver. "Say it again."

"Get back to work." Oliver said with a chuckle. Even in the darkest of times, Felicity's ramblings and random insights could always seem to make him smile.

For the next few hours, they continued the baseline analysis of the virus. At Felicity's earliest estimate, she thought that it would take the pair of them at least five days before they were finished with that. The virus was among the most complex she had ever seen and as much research as she could do had led her to believe that it been engineered to be that way.

The more the pair of them worked, the more it seemed that this was definitely the work of Ra's al Ghul. In Oliver's mind, Ra's' plan had to center around weakening the citizens of the city, making them more vulnerable to his impending assault.

So, Oliver and Felicity, with the occasional support of the rest of Team Arrow, worked around the clock.

After nearly twenty-two hours of straight work, both Oliver and Felicity reached a point where they were both waiting for tests to come back. Silently, they both moved across the room to the TV area where they sat, exhausted and collapsing towards each other, using their weight to keep each other awake. As they sat, the newest release of information was brought to light by the local news anchor.

_"The CDC has confirmed that this is being considered a biological attack by an unknown party. Scientists for Queen Consolidated and WayneTech have been working jointly to combat the spread of the virus with no success at this point. However, they were able to identify this as an accelerated form of ebola believed to be specifically engineered for this attack."_

_"In other related news, Starling City officials put the death toll at nearly 5,000 citizens with a marked increase of deaths in each of the three days since the virus' emergence. With no end to the epidemic in sight, the question becomes_ "How many will die before this is wiped out?"

With that, Oliver grabbed the remote and shut off the TV in disgust.

"We'll figure it out, Oliver." Felicity said, her hand comforting him on his knee.

"Will we?" Oliver asked in disgust. "I'm not a scientist. I have some limited training but I'm not really equipped for something like this. You may be the most brilliant person I know and even you don't entirely know what you're doing."

"You're right." Felicity admitted. "I'm doing what I can with the few advanced biology classes I took while I was in college. Good thing I was a straight A student."

"Yeah."

"Either way, we have Wayne and his people working on this too. I'm certain that Kord has been working on something, although I wouldn't expect him to be the one to actually come up with anything. Plus, we do have something to look forward to."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"Ra's wouldn't have released this unless he had a cure himself."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well first, he would want to have it in case he was personally infected. Secondly, this disease is the most vile thing ever released on planet Earth. If its not stopped, he could literally kill everyone in the city or worse. If he does that, there's nothing for him to rule over. No world to fix."

"I suppose you're right." Oliver admitted. "Either way, he's not giving that to us."

"Which means it's on us." Felicity said, continuing his line of thought. "It's been on us before. It's never stopped us."

"How can you be such an optimist in a situation like this?"

"Because we have you." Felicity said softly. "It's the same thing I said when Slade was rampaging the city. As long as we have you, the city will be safe. It may go through its dark times but everything will come out in the end."

"Thanks." Oliver whispered, leaning back against the couch and up against Felicity's head. As exhausted as he was, he almost instantly began to doze off. He was just about ready to truly fall asleep when something in the lab across the room started beeping, indicating that break time was over.

"Back to it." Felicity muttered.

"Yeah."

* * *

"Oliver, we have to go out there eventually."

For the last twenty four hours, this had been Laurel's constant refrain. It wasn't that he didn't agree with her.

It was that he thought the risks certainly outweighed the rewards.

"You know I would."

"There's an 'if' coming, isn't there?" Laurel replied sarcastically.

"If I thought we could do something out there other than expose ourselves to this sickness. As it is, Felicity's made big strides in the last day or so. If we hold out just a bit longer, we can have a cure ready for manufacturing and then we can face Ra's head on."

"Oliver, you've watched the news." Felicity added, pointing at the TV playing silently in the distance. "At this point, there are just as many people injured from looting and crime as there are sick."

Ever since the Ebola outbreak had begun, Oliver had felt a particular form of uselessness. Oliver was a fighter. At least since the island, any time there was a problem, Oliver stood and faced it, staring it in the eye.

The only problem? This wasn't a problem you could fight. There was nothing to hit, no target to destroy and no person to punch. This was so far beyond what he was qualified to take care of that he had found himself just sitting in the ArrowCave, waiting. It was an unusual and frustrating situation for Oliver and one that had pushed him into a form of depression.

"What are we supposed to do out there, Felicity? There are thousands of people in this city! All of them are either dying or fighting. The government won't touch this because of how bad it's gotten. They aren't even attempting to nuke us like they were going to with Slade. You don't think that's a sign of what this is?"

"What is this?" Felicity replied, challenging him.

"This is something that no one, not even us, can fight. We can figure out our way around it, maybe, eventually but fighting it is useless!"

"It's not useless!" Laurel shouted, turning to face Oliver directly. "So we can't actually stop anything! So what!? You don't think that the people of this city have noticed The Arrow's absence? Of course they have! They're out there, wondering where he went, wondering if he abandoned them."

"I haven't abandoned them!" Oliver roared, the rage of his helplessness bubbling to the surface. "What am I supposed to do? Going out there and hitting a few bad guys, what's that going to do? The threat is Ra's! He's out there, just laughing at us! He knows we can't deal with him until we deal with this! So we deal with this, we find the cure and then we destroy him. Until then, what the fuck else are we supposed to do!?"

For a second, everyone in the ArrowCave stopped whatever they were doing and looked over at Oliver. Eventually, Roy, Thea and Laurel all stopped staring as Felicity marched swiftly over from her terminal. The thing that Oliver loved about her the most was her determination. As she approached, Oliver almost couldn't help but smile. He was feeling particularly hopeless but the look of a determined Felicity Smoak was enough to make anyone grin just a bit.

"You know what the  _fuck_ you're supposed to do, Oliver?" Felicity questioned him, a determined look burning in her eyes. "Be the hero we all know you are. After Slade, no one refers to you as The Hood or The Vigilante. Heck, you aren't even The Arrow. You're The Green Arrow, Oliver!"

A fire burned deep within her as she spoke, making Oliver grin. Very rarely did Felicity curse and when she did, you knew that she was really impassioned about something. It made him feel wonderful that he was what she was fired up about.

"They make T-shirts and lunchboxes with what they think you look like on them! Kids write essays saying that they want to be like you when they grow up! You're a hero, goddamn it, so be one, Oliver Queen. Be the hero we all know you are. Be the image. Remind this city just how wonderful they can be if they if they only follow your lead."

Goddamn it, Felicity Smoak. If there was anyone that knew how to get to him, it was her. She was right, of course. He wasn't just responsible for himself anymore or even just his team. This was his  _city_ and he was responsible for reminding it just how wonderful it could be.

"Laurel, suit up."

"What?" Laurel said in shock.

"You're going on your first set of patrols tonight." Oliver said before turning to Roy. "Get dressed."

"What about me?" Thea asked.

"You're doing well but not yet." Oliver said firmly. "Don't worry. I have a bad feeling that we'll need you before the end of all this."

"OK."

"Stay and help Felicity with whatever she needs."

"Man the computer while I work over here." Felicity instructed.

"Perfect." Oliver said with a smirk. "Everyone else, suit up. We leave in five."

* * *

The night's patrols had been eventful and that was certainly selling it short. During the four hours the group had been out, Oliver had seen at least three sets of Assassins. Obviously, they were taking Oliver's absence as an excuse to prep and move about the city freely.

That time was now over.

During the evening, Oliver stuck with Laurel ensuring that she never got too deep into any trouble. Thankfully, Oliver's training had taken hold. Certainly she'd had problems with the Assassins but the regular joe schmo criminal that they found on the street had never had a chance.

The Black Canary had certainly returned to Starling. While this one wasn't nearly as good as her predecessor, Oliver was confident that she could be as good with time.

Unfortunately, time was the one thing they really didn't have.

After a busy evening, the members of Team Arrow returned to the Cave at almost 4 AM. Unsurprisingly, Oliver found Thea asleep in the corner while Felicity, eyes red due to a lack of sleep, was still working diligently. Oliver gave her space for a few minutes while he showered and changed. However, once that was done, Oliver came up behind her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

In the past, she may have jumped. However, years of being around each other and a higher level of ease with their close proximity had trained Felicity. Now, instead of jumping, she simply relaxed and leaned into his hand before reaching up and placing her own hand on top of hers.

"How did patrols go?"

"Good." Oliver said simply. "Did she go to sleep the moment we were done?"

"Yeah. It was kind of cute, actually. You told her to sign off. She logged out of the comm program and then went and laid down. She was asleep almost instantly."

"Speaking of sleep..."

"Don't, Oliver." Felicity said stubbornly.

"Felicity," Oliver said, leaning down so his mouth was speaking directly into her ear. "You are brilliant and wonderful. I know you're determined to get this finished. However, what we really can't afford is mistakes."

"You're saying that I'm going to make mistakes?"

"We both know that exhaustion does funny things to us." Oliver said, backtracking a bit. "Take one of the cots and get a few hours sleep. We can come back to this in the morning."

"I can't."

"What?" Oliver asked in confusion.

"I can't sleep. I've been trying over the last few days but every time I go to sleep, I..."

"You what?"

"I see him." Felicity uttered, fear slipping into her voice. "I see him here. Just like he was that night. He just appears here, like he's watching all of us sleep."

Oliver felt terrible. He hadn't even noticed that she'd been having problems sleeping. Probably because neither of them had tried sleeping in nearly two days but still, the fact that Oliver hadn't thought to ask made him wonder what else he was missing.

"Felicity, we've changed all the locks." Oliver said as he kneeled down next to her, coming down so his face was at her level. "We've altered all of the security measures. There's no way in here now."

"I know but it's like it's dirty now."

"Did you feel this way when Slade broke in?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Honestly," Felicity said, a guilty look crossing her face. "because I knew you could beat him."

The implication of what she was saying was terrifying. She wasn't certain that Oliver would be able to beat him this time. For Felicity to believe this, it truly frightened Oliver. She had always been the one of the confidence in him. He knew that he hadn't lost her confidence, she was just legitimately afraid of Ra's al Ghul.

Not that he could blame her.

"We'll talking about that tomorrow. For the time being," Oliver started, choosing to move passed her previous statement. "what can I do to help you sleep?"

"Join me."

He certainly couldn't have heard her right.

"Excuse me?"

"Not like that!" Felicity replied, slapping at Oliver playfully. "Just, if you were right there, I would feel safer."

"OK. You do know that all of those cots are single mattresses, right?"

"Then we'll have to get close."

"That we will." Oliver said nervously. "Get changed then."

"What?"

"You're done for the night. We're going to bed."

"OK." Felicity replied as Oliver could tell he wasn't the only nervous one.

In the ten minutes it took Felicity to shower and change, Oliver nearly changed his mind about this thirty times. While he wasn't going to protest to being that close to her, he was still worried that she may reject him. While things were more on than off when it came to their relationship, Oliver didn't want to push things. On the flip side, she had come up with this.

Ten minutes later, Felicity came out of the locker room where the same styled shorts and t-shirt combo she always wore to bed. Slowly, she approached Oliver and extended her hand. Nervously, Oliver took it and allowed her to lead him across the room to her cot.

"You get to go in first." Felicity ordered, pointing towards the bed.

"Yes, sir." Oliver said, complete with mock salute before climbing onto the bed.

Oliver did what he could to get as far to one side of the bed before she got into bed. However, the second she did join him, Oliver knew that he could never have gone far enough. Neither Oliver or Felicity were particularly big people but this was also a very small mattress. With both of them laying on their sides, the only way for the two of them to share the bed was to press up against each other. As she leaned into him, the overwhelming smell of the wonderful shampoo that Felicity used flooded his nostrils and Oliver and to keep himself from audibly sniffing in.

"Well, this is a tight fit." Felicity muttered softly.

"The things we'll do for safety." Oliver replied with a grin.

"Something like that." Felicity replied before turning around to face him. In a flash, Felicity leaned in and kissed him. Unlike the last one, which had been nothing more than a peck on the lips, this one lingered just a hair longer although in Oliver's mind, several hours may have passed while their lips met. Finally, Felicity broke the kiss before placing a hand on Oliver's face and looking him directly in the eyes.

Those eyes, as blue as you could imagine, always held so much mystery for Oliver. For all the things she said, it was what she didn't say, what she was keeping from the world that interested him. It's what connected him to her.

"I love you, Oliver. You know that, right?" Felicity whispered, making it so that Oliver could barely hear her.

"I love you, Felicity."

"Glad we're on the same page with that." Felicity said before placing another kiss on his cheek. With that, she turned back over and leaned into him before reaching back and grabbing his left arm, pulling it over top of her. "Now, if we can just get rid of all the crazy madmen in our lives, then maybe we'll stand a chance."

"Maybe." Oliver mused softly. "Goodnight, Felicity."

"Diggle wants you to call him in the morning." Felicity said in between yawns.

"Will do." Oliver said softly. "Now goodnight, Felicity."

"Goodnight, Oliver."

* * *

The next morning, Oliver unearthed himself from underneath the curtain of Felicity's hair on his face and got a quick workout and a shower in before calling Diggle like Felicity had reminded him to do.

Unsurprisingly, his friend answered on the first ring.

"Oliver."

"Dig, Felicity said she wanted me to call you."

"Yeah, we should talk." Oliver agreed. "Can you come into the Cave or do we have to talk like this?"

"I can come in."

"Good." Oliver replied before hanging up.

Oliver had an idea as to what exactly Diggle wanted to talk about but he figured he would wait until Diggle got here before he really started worrying about it. Oliver fiddled about in the lab area, working on continuing as much of Felicity's research as he could, for the half hour it took for Dig to arrive. Once he was there, Oliver led Diggle back to his own office, a small area separated from the rest of the Cave where they could have a private conversation.

"Lay it on me, Dig."

"How did you know I wanted to lay anything on you?"

"Because you went out of your way to have me call you. Then, you drove all the way down here in the middle of a viral outbreak. So, what's on your mind?"

"Thea."

"That's what I figured."

"Explain your reasoning to me." Diggle said calmly as he took a seat on the opposite side of Oliver's desk.

"It's simple actually." Oliver replied with a smirk. "Even if I never let Thea out in the field, she believes that her training is going to get her there. This is a win-win situation for me. If she turns out to be good, we let her out there and we gain another ally to watch our back. If she doesn't, then she did her training with us and wasn't out there trying to do it on her own."

"So you think you're protecting her? Because protecting her would have been saying no in the first place."

"I don't agree. She's had training from Merlyn, she's not totally incapable of taking care of herself. You know what it's like to believe in something. Would me just telling her no have stopped her?"

"You could have waited to find out."

"Yes, I could have." Oliver admitted. "However, that comes with the risk of infuriating my only family member and potentially pushing her away again. She's already left Starling once, Dig, and she left with Merlyn. Tommy is her half-brother. If I push her away, she may end up running directly in his arms. Then, not only have I not prevented her from training, she'll be training to fight against me."

"So you're hedging your bet."

"I'm doing what made the most sense and then trusting that the rest of you would trust me." Oliver replied. "I'm glad that you did."

"We do trust you, Oliver." Diggle said softly. "It just helps to know what's going on inside that head of yours sometimes, man."

"Ask and ye shall receive." Oliver replied mockingly before standing. "Come on, let's go wake everyone up. I have something to show you guys."

Quickly, Oliver walked out of his office, Diggle on his tails, and back out in the main area of the Cave. Thankfully, everyone appeared to already be awake so Oliver wouldn't have to play camp counselor.

"Good." Oliver muttered almost to himself. "Everyone over here, please."

Within a couple seconds, everyone assembled near one of the newly installed bay doors at the far end of the ArrowCave.

"What's up, Ollie?" Thea asked sleepily.

"Over the last week, I've been in contact with Bruce Wayne. QC and WayneTech are two of the top government contractors in the country. However, our expertise is very different. QC specializes in computer tech and surveillance tech while much of WayneTech is focused on actual weaponry and armament."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Diggle asked curiously.

"Wayne and I made a trade. Two days ago, I sent some of the software tech that we've been giving to the military."

"What did we get in return?"

"This." Oliver said, a huge grin on his face as he lifted the bay door behind him.

Hidden behind the door and loaded onto a truck within the last day were newly upgraded versions of everyone's suit, including one that hadn't been there before.

"Oliver?"

"Thea, I said it yesterday and I was right. We're going to need you before the end of this. That means we need to get you out there sooner rather than later. Tonight, when The Green Arrow, The Hood, The Arsenal and The Black Canary go on patrols, they will be joined by The Red Arrow."

"The Red Arrow?" Thea asked, shock still visible on her face.

"If that's good with you."

"Of course!" Thea said before launching herself at Oliver, hugging him intensely. When she broke away, Oliver led everyone inside the truck to get out their new gear.

"Most of this is made from the same material that Wayne makes his suit from. It's a kevlar-weave. However, ours is significantly more flexible than his is, due to our use of archery. Dig, yours has a holster for your pistol and Roy, yours for your knives. The domino masks have been improved with lenses that will give you advanced analysis of the environment around you. It also has Bluetooth receivers in it that will allow us to communicate more easily."

"This is incredible." Felicity whispered as she examined the mask. "It's like everything in his cowl."

"It is his cowl." Oliver shot back. "Remember when he revealed that he had taken all your designs without your permission? Well, that ended up working out for us. Basically, he had his man on the inside work his cowl into our gear."

"I guess that bastard got something right then." Felicity muttered.

"Exactly." Oliver grinned. "The drawback to this gear is that is a significant bit heavier than our old gear. However, with the exception of the area under your arms, it's almost entirely bulletproof. Now, for the coup de gras."

"There's more?" Roy asked, almost in shock.

"These." Oliver said as he pulled a sheet back, revealing several crates full of specialty arrows. "There are three kinds. First, there's your standard carbon fiber arrow. However, Wayne took it upon himself to tweak them. Basically, these arrows are perfect. They're lighter without sacrificing durability and they pack just as much punch because they travel significantly faster than our old ones. Secondly, we have shock arrows. Each is packed with a set of teeth and built into the inside of the shaft is a small tazer unit. It will put 40,000 volts into our target, easily enough to knock someone unconscious."

"What about the last ones?"

"These were my idea." Oliver replied proudly. "Incendiary arrows. I lit the signal that got me off Lian Yu with an arrow. Shot in nearly two hundred yards, lit on fire, into a signal fire. Well, I wanted to be able to do that without needing a fire lit right next to us. So, we got these. As they fire through the air, the friction of the particles in the air will cause them to ignite mid-flight. They can be used as a signal, as a distraction and most obviously, as a weapon. They don't stick as well as your regular arrow but with enough force, they should still impale their target while also setting them on fire."

With that, Oliver's little presentaiton was finished. Smiling, he looked back at the rest of Team Arrow.

"This is good stuff, Oliver." Diggle commented softly.

"Yes, it means that when it comes time to go after Ra's, we're not going to be completely on our own."

"Thank God."

**A/N: This is kind of what I imagine their new armor looking like (just with darker coloring to match their theme): Google "Green Arrow armor" The one that I modeled this after is the fifth row, four from the right**

* * *

About an hour after Oliver's reveal of their new armor, Oliver was seated in his office when Felicity knocked on the door.

"Just got the call." Felicity said softly. "They're all ready to go."

"Thanks, Felicity. When I'm done here, I have a strange feeling I'll need to talk to you."

"You'll know where to find me, boss." Felicity said with a grin and a wink.

"I do." Oliver said with a guilty smile.

As Felicity walked out of the door, Oliver activated the screen in front of him and activated the secure chat line that Wayne had established between the four heroes known to the world. As he did that, he saw the faces of Barry Allen and Clark Kent appear while Bruce, clad entirely in his Batman gear, sat in front of his own computer, obviously working on something already.

"I'm sorry, Bruce." Oliver chided him. "Are we interrupting you?"

"Yes, actually." Bruce replied coldly, although he thankfully didn't resort to use his "Batvoice."

"Well I have a feeling you're going to want to hear what I have to say."

"We'll see about that." Bruce said, although he did stop working. "I'm listening."

"About ten days ago, we recovered a laptop from Tommy Merlyn. For those of you that don't know, Merlyn was once a very good friend of mine before his death."

"If he's dead, then why do we care?"

"Because he's no longer dead."

"That's not possible." Barry said softly.

"Just like it's not possible to run at four times the speed of sound?"

"Good point." Barry replied sheepishly. "Continue."

"Anyway, Tommy was brought back to life by Ra's al Ghul, head of The League of Assassins. He was brought back to lead Ra's' forces into battle in four cities: Starling City, Central City, Metropolis and Gotham City."

"You're saying..." Clark started before Oliver interrupted.

"He's targeting us." Oliver said firmly. "According to his...doctrine, the fact that we even exist means that our cities are weak. If they weren't, they wouldn't need us to protect him."

"That's insane."

"Ra's al Ghul is very insane. He's also very capable and very convincing and he will not stop until he's destroyed our cities. You've already seen what's happening to mine."

"Do you need help?" Barry asked.

"That's what I'm calling about." Oliver replied. "Do not, under any circumstances, come to Starling City. Technology is good enough currently that we can all work together and not be in the same place. The last thing I would want is for me to be unable to stop Ra's and for you all to be there, your cities without their protectors."

"But if I just..."

"Clark, you could very easily come in and kill him. That's not his strength. His strength is beating your morale. Your problem would be the same as mine: you can't hit a virus. Sure, you would kill or beat al Ghul but the virus would live on. You guys want to help: keep pressuring people to work on the cure."

"About that." Wayne replied. "I want to help but I can't keep devoting all of my company's R&D funds to a project that will turn out no money. If I do that, I will lose WayneTech and the ability to help Gotham with it."

"I think I can help with that." Oliver shot back. "Later today, I'm sending Felicity to Gotham. She can give you the data that she has and allow your people to work with that. Also, she will still be paid on QC's dollar so you don't have to worry about that. That will spare you at least a little time."

"OK. Is she going to be okay with that?" Bruce smirked.

"I certainly hope so." Oliver said. "I've got to go. I'll keep in touch."

Oliver closed the conversation before sitting in silence for a couple minutes. Suddenly, Oliver felt the presence of someone else in the room and looked up to see Felicity staring at him.

"Do you still need to talk to me?"

"I do." Oliver said sadly before indicating for her to sit down. Oliver rubbed his temples in frustration. This was quite obviously the last thing he wanted to do but he knew that the lives of everyone in Starling City could depend on it. "You aren't going to like what I'm going to ask you to do."

"Ask?"

"It is ultimately your decision. However, I'm hoping that once you've heard my reasoning, you'll agree with me. I know you won't like it either way but I'm just hoping you'll trust me."

"We'll see." Felicity said with grin on her face.

"Yeah." Oliver said sadly before looking up to look at her directly in those perfect blue eyes. "I need you to go to Gotham City."

"WHAT?"

"Hear me out!" Oliver said, quickly doing his best to reason with her. "QC is not a company that works in the medical field. At all. WayneTech, on the other hand, is one of the leaders in disease study. We don't have the labs for you to do the work you really need to do. Wayne does. So, I'm asking you to take my plane to Gotham and work with Wayne. He's going to assign you an entire team of scientists and researchers to help you."

"You're just getting rid of me, aren't you?" Felicity accused. "You're trying to protect me. You're getting me out of Starling so that when things go bad, I'm not here to be in the way."

"In the past, that might have been something I would do." Oliver admitted. "However, I know two things now. One, you would figure out a way to get yourself in trouble anyway and two, the safest place for you is typically right next to me."

"So why are you doing this?"

"I've been talking with Wayne and Kord for the last day. No one is as far along on this as you are. With the research you've done and then adding Wayne's resources, we will be so much closer to getting this cured. I know that this is not my typical M.O. but I'm asking you to think about the thousands of people you will save by doing this."

The look on Felicity's face was almost impossible to read. At one moment, she would look understand and at another, she looked like she wanted to put a hole in Oliver's head. As it was, it was probably a strange mix of both.

"You're right. I'm not happy about it but you're right." Felicity finally admitted. "I'll pack up stuff now. Call the plane and have a taxi waiting outside."

"Both already done." Oliver said sadly before getting up and walking around his desk to get as close to Felicity as he could. Suddenly, he felt himself wrapping his arms around Felicity, pulling her into the tightest embrace he could remember. More than anything, he didn't want to let her go. Not again. She had already left once and the fear was still in Oliver's heart that she would leave and not come back.

Thankfully, Felicity knew Oliver just as well as he did. She pulled away just far enough to look him in the eye.

"When I've got the cure, I'm coming home, Oliver." Felicity said firmly.

"Good." Oliver said as he let her go. "Now, go. Go save the world."

"You keep it intact until I can." Felicity said with a smile.

"We'll do what we can."

* * *

"What did you say?" Oliver asked in confusion as he started to take his gear off.

"STAR Labs says they've come up with a partial cure."

"A partial cure?" Roy scoffed. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"According to their tests, it works for a few hours but eventually the virus beats it back." Oliver read over Thea's shoulder. "Basically, they're on the right track. They're just not quite at the strength that's needed to completely overcome the virus yet. Give them Wayne's information. He'll link STAR to Felicity."

"Sounds like things could finally be looking up." Diggle replied, coming out of the armory in his regular dress.

"Don't say something like that." Oliver shot back. "Our luck is not very good right now."

"That's no joke." Diggle answered with a grin. "Did you break a mirror with a black cat at some point in your youth?"

"No. I broke two mirrors." Oliver joked, feeling just a bit of levity for the first time in several days and definitely the first time since Felicity had left.

Oliver wouldn't admit it to anyone else but he was struggling without Felicity's presence. While things were as bad as they'd ever been in Starling City, just the thought that she was there had kept Oliver upbeat. Now, while he knew that she was safer being across the country, he still missed her desperately. He owed her a very serious vacation after this where they could figure out just what the hell was going on with them.

The fact that something was going on between them was obvious. What confused Oliver is that he still wasn't sure what it all meant. Was it just something brought on by fear or was this something that she was actually afraid to lose? Oliver knew what he would do if he lost her but he never got the feeling that she felt the same way.

At least not since Slade's attack.

Suddenly, the phone in Oliver's pocket started ringing. Reaching down, he pulled the phone out of his pocket to see a familiar number calling him. It belonged to the phone that he had provided Slade when he had released him.

Speak of the devil himself.

"Slade." Oliver said as he answered.

"Kid." Slade said softly. Oliver could tell by the lack of volume in his voice that he was obviously in a place he shouldn't be.

"What's going on?"

"I'm down at the docks." Slade answered softly before stopping suddenly. For several seconds, the phone remained silent before Slade returned. "Sorry about that. Some thug thought he could sneak up me."

"Yes. Now, what's so important at the docks?"

"Oh that. I've been monitoring The League's movements as much as I can. Recently, they led me to the docks. I'm glad it did or no one would have gotten any warning."

"Warning of what?"

"Invasion, Queen." Slade snapped. "Over the last four hours, six ships have docked. Based on what I can tell, they are all the exact same make and model. Each of them arrived with no listed cargo and no listed departure date. However, they're all stocked full of people. Quite a few people actually."

"More than you'd need for a crew?"

"Ten times over." Slade confirmed. "I know you've got a lot going for you right now but I figured I would give you a heads up: The League of Assassins is in Starling City in full force."

"Thanks." Oliver answered before abruptly ending the call. As he did, he noticed that everyone in the room had their eyes locked on him. For a few beats, no one spoke. Finally, Laurel broke the silence.

"What did he want?"

How exactly do you tell someone that the city that they were born and raised in was about to be invaded by a ninja army?

"The League is here." Oliver said simply.

"Of course they are. Ra's, Nyssa and Tommy have been here for months."

"I mean the rest of the League." Oliver said, a hint of dejection in his voice. "Ra's' army of assassins, the rest of the League, is starting to arrive on unmarked ships. Slade is watching them unload as we speak."

"What does that mean?" Thea asked, her voice shaking.

"It means that we have to cure this disease and fast. Because we have a war on our hands."

 


	14. XIII: Diggle

An hour later, the entirety of Team Arrow met on the roof of the only truly safe place left: the roof of Queen Tower. Once they got there, they waited only a few minutes before Slade climbed the access ladder, joining them.

"What did you see, Slade?"

Oliver could tell from looking around the roof that everyone other than he and Slade was very tense. Obviously, no one (Oliver included) trusted the Australian. However, Oliver knew that parts of the old Slade were slowly returning. This meant that while he didn't trust him, he did believe him when he said that he would help in exchange for leaving Starling.

It was certainly preferable to being locked up by ARGUS for the rest of his life.

"It ended up being nine ships. Each of them large cargo ships with no cargo. When they landed, each was carrying what amounted to overkill for this kind of ship."

"How many?" Diggle growled next to him.

"A normal crew for a ship that size would be 20, maybe 30. Each of these ships appeared to be carrying approximately 100 to 120 people on them."

"Times nine that's 900 to 1080 people." Laurel said, doing the math in her head. "That's an invasion army."

"It is." Oliver admitted before turning back to Slade. "We can't focus on Ra's yet. If this virus doesn't get cured soon, it doesn't matter who's in charge of the city."

"You should go after Ra's now, kid." Slade said, shaking his head. "Worry about the people later."

"I can't." Oliver whispered harshly. "It's the difference between me and you, Slade. I do this for the people, you do it for yourself."

"Can't trust anyone else." Slade replied defiantly.

"Arsenal." Oliver said, turning to Roy. "We're putting city patrols at all hours of the day now. These are non-combat patrols. If you get into a skirmish with one set of Assassins, you're just going to bring in more."

"Got it. Shifts?"

"Yes, you'll be out for five hours. When you get back, Diggle will go out next." Oliver confirmed. "Slade, I'm not in charge of you but I could use your help."

"I want Ra's al Ghul dead." Slade growled, his voice cracking with rage as he spoke. "Until that's the case, I'm with you."

"Good." Oliver said, breathing a sigh of relief. "In ten hours, start a patrol around the city. Use this radio, it will get you into contact with us. Guys, we're looking to see where they're setting up. It's a force of 1000 people. They can't hide that well in a city like this."

"I doubt they plan on hiding long." Thea muttered.

"What makes you think that?" Oliver asked.

"When I trained with Merlyn..." Thea said shortly before trailing off for a second, as if recalling a set of particularly troubling memories. "His style. He was patient in the planning and in the prep of a thing. But when it came to the execution, he charged in headfirst. If I had to guess, that's how the League plans. They bide their time, they wait and then when they're ready, they attack in full force."

"Then we need as much information as we can." Oliver confirmed before turning to the rest of his team. "Do not get involved in a fight with these guys. We're going to need everyone to fight our way out of here."

"You got it, boss." Diggle said with a grin.

"Good." Oliver replied. "Now, when the League does decide to start their invasion, this is what we'll do..."

* * *

Less than eighteen hours, Oliver sat in front of the TV. Again, the reports were chilling.

_"The number of confirmed cases of Ebola-S, the moniker for this new strand of the virus, hit another high today with 20,000 confirmed cases in Starling City. The death toll has already reached a staggering 12,000 with at least 3,000 more sure to come. Labs all over the country continue work on a cure for this deadly virus with little to no success. Reports that STAR Labs in Starling City had come up with at least part of a working cure were denied by company reps. Calls to Queen Consolidated CEO Thea Queen and WayneTech CEO Bruce Wayne were unreturned._

_However, Ted Kord, Owner and CEO of private company Kord Industries had this to say:_

_"We're doing all that we can do. Never in modern history has there ever been such pressure to create the cure to a specific disease. My heart goes out to the citizens of Starling City. Know that we in the science community are doing everything we can to bring safety to your city once more."_

_This phone call was taken from Mr. Kord's private residence in Las Vegas, Nevada, home to Kord Industries' main research facility._

_However, there were advances made. Felicity Smoak, the Technological Director of Governmental Affairs for Queen Consolidated who has been working on loan with WayneTech in Gotham City recently, has revealed that they have discovered why this particular strain of the virus is so damaging"_

Instantly, Felicity's face appeared on the screen.

 _"We were previously aware that this strain of the virus has been engineered specifically. At this point, we are able to tell you that while the regular version of the ebola virus is only communicable_ (Oliver chuckled to himself as he heard this word)  _through the transfer of bodily fluid, specifically blood. We know that this strain has been specifically altered to increase transfer. Now, it is nearly as contagious as the flu or the common cold. With this, we urge everyone in Starling City to continue wearing masks and also avoid physical contact with all persons until this virus can be contained."_

With that, Felicity disappeared and the news anchor returned.

_"Ms. Smoak was unavailable for comment after her news release. There has been speculation of a rift between her and Oliver Queen, former Queen Consolidated CEO, that may have forced her return to Gotham City. Calls to both parties were not returned."_

Finally, Oliver couldn't take it anymore. He reached for the remote and quickly shut the TV off, nearly breaking the remote in his hand. Five days. They were already five days into this threat and a significant portion of his city's population was either already dead or soon to be. And the news stations had the gall to be questioning whether Felicity and Oliver were angry at each other!

Suddenly, Oliver heard the computer at the far side of the room beeping uncontrollably. Getting up, Oliver raced to the other side of the room to see a video chat request from Felicity. Quickly, Oliver accepted the request before sitting down as Felicity's face appeared on the screen.

"Hello." Oliver said with a grin.

 _"Miss me yet?"_ Felicity joked.

"You have no idea." Oliver said with a shake of his head. "How are things going?"

_"Really well. We're making a lot faster progress than I was on my own. It's mostly just getting these doctors and researchers to trust that this overqualified IT professional knows what I'm talking about when it comes to a real life virus."_

"There are similarities between their kind and yours I'm sure."

_"There are. However, that's not what I called about."_

"What is?"

_"What are you doing about Ra's' invasion army?"_

Of course she would know about that.

"How did you find out about that?"

Felicity's only response was a knowing cock of her eyebrow.

"Fair point. We're dealing with the virus first. I've got Roy, Diggle and Slade working alternating shifts observing the Assassins' movements. I'm sure they know we're there but it's information one way or another."

_"What about you, Thea and Laurel?"_

"We've been out monitoring various free clinics, homeless shelters. Places that desperate people would target without fear of real retribution. Just basically trying to keep this city as civil as possible before it spirals out of control."

For a second, Felicity sat and just watched him. From the filter of a computer screen, it was even more difficult than normal to try and determine just what the hell she was thinking. Finally, she spoke and spared Oliver from his torment.

_"Oliver, there's nothing you can do about the virus right now. But you need to go after Ra's. If you don't, he's going to take over the city."_

"We prepared for that, remember?"

_"Yes, as a last case scenario. Not as the one we're accepting."_

"We're not accepting it, Felicity." Oliver growled, offended that she would think he was considering that. "However, until the virus is taken care of, I don't feel like we can go after Ra's."

 _"Why not?"_ Felicity asked.  _"No offense but you've done all you can about the virus. Deal with the thing you're good at."_

"I can still help with the virus, Felicity. More importantly, I'm helping protect the people."

_"You're dealing with the short term solutions."_

"If I don't deal with the short term solutions, more people die than necessary."

_"I know that you don't want to think about this but more people are going to die. You've heard the reports and I'm sure you've run some of your own simulations."_

"I have." Oliver admitted.

_"Then you know that there's nothing you can do for the virus. Not at the scale at which you're working. Work on Ra's."_

"I disagree, Felicity." Oliver shot back. "If I go after Ra's, I need everyone. That means that have to pull all the patrols and that means basically abandoning the city while we prep for attack."

_"I'm certain there are ways you can pull double duty."_

"I haven't come up with one. We don't know where Ra's is holed up, we'd have to find that. We don't know where he plans to attack, we'd have to figure that out. I'm smart, I'm good at this kind of thing but this is a scale that even Slade's Mirakuru army didn't reach."

For a second, Felicity stopped and appeared to think. Whether she was silently agreeing with Oliver or simply allowing him more time to think, he wasn't quite sure.

"How about this?" Oliver redirected with a smile. "You cure this goddamn thing and come home and we can go after Ra's together."

 _"Deal."_ Felicity replied.  _"Although if you expect me to go after Ra's with those bamboo sticks you guys use, you've got another thing coming."_

"Felicity, we both know that you know what they're called."

_"Yes, but the face you make when I refer to them as 'the bamboo sticks' is priceless."_

"I'm glad I can be a source of amusement for you."

 _"You are."_ Felicity grinned before looking away.  _"Tests just finished up. I gotta go."_

"Go save the world, Ms. Smoak."

 _"I'll do what I can, Mr. Queen."_ Felicity said, a hint of sadness in her voice as she cut the feed.

For several minutes, Oliver simply sat and pondered what Felicity had said. She obviously had confidence in his ability to take on Ra's even while this virus plagued Starling City. What would it mean to leave Starling City to its devices while he chased after the madman responsible for this sickness? Would the city understand that he was protecting them or would his visible absence in the protection of the little people be seen as abandoning them?

In the end, if Oliver succeeded in defeating Ra's and curing this virus, it wouldn't matter if they understood. They would be safe. They would be alive. If The Green Arrow was suddenly seen as he was when he was just "the hood," then so be it. Being the hero didn't matter anymore. It hadn't really mattered to begin with.

The Green Arrow was something Starling City could rally around or against. Either way, the city would be unified. Oliver only hoped that he could unify the city and save it before they either captured or killed him.

Regardless of his ability, he knew that he couldn't go on forever. He was only human. Humans age, they break and before you know it, you're too old to jump off a building, somersault onto the ground, roll up and fire six arrows at six targets.

For the time being, The Green Arrow was a hero and that's the way it was going to be.

Standing, Oliver turned to the rest of the population of the cave.

"Let's move."

* * *

"Who the hell thought it was be so hard to move all this stuff?" Diggle grunted as he finished dropping the last box.

"I did." Oliver answered. "I put most of it in there myself."

The boxes they were moving was the contents of most of the first ArrowCave, now currently located in Oliver's second secure bunker. Felicity's words had motivated him to move against Ra's but in order to do that, they needed security. Unfortunately, the ArrowCave no longer provided that for them. The fact that both Slade and Ra's knew its location was definitely a problem. Therefore, Oliver had ordered as much of their gears as possible packed into the back of the same truck that had brought their new gear from WayneTech.

As part of their relocation plan, Oliver also did the unthinkable: he detonated the remains of the old ArrowCave, burying years of memories, both good and bad, along with some outdated equipment, including Oliver's first computer system which Felicity had replaced during her introduction to the team.

Now, the process of setting up the new ArrowCave began. After several hours of growling and cursing and listening to Felicity laugh at him as she explained how to hook up the computer bay, everything was in place. This other location was larger than the first but was in a significantly worse area of town. If he was honest, Oliver didn't intend to make this their permanent home very long.

There were too many bad memories of this place.

Especially since all of them were bad.

"Well, I'm certainly glad that's done." Roy said as he approached Oliver and Diggle, who had just finished installing Oliver's salmon ladder.

"You and me both." Diggle replied before turning to Oliver. "I see how you're in such good shape. You just pick the damn thing up."

"Only on my bad days." Oliver mused in return.

While much of their gear would invariably remained boxed up, the most essential items to their operation was unpacked and ready for use. Now, they just needed their last member and things would be back to normal.

Diggle, almost as if he had read Oliver's mind, spoke next to him.

"Now if Felicity were here, it would almost be normal."

"She's not back permanently."

"That's what she says." Digg joked.

"You think she'll come back? Even after we deal with Ra's?"

The look in Diggle's eye was one that Oliver hadn't seen before. He simply nodded his head off to the side, indicating he wished to continue this conversation in private. Slowly, the two headed to one of the side rooms. Once they were there, Diggle spoke.

"Don't think that we haven't noticed, Oliver."

"Noticed what?"

"The two of you." Diggle answered knowingly. "We hear the small things you say to each other. I'm just glad that the two of you aren't hiding from this anymore."

"I still feel like I'm always going to hide from it."

"Because of what happened with Slade."

"You guys weren't there." Oliver said, his mind flashing back to that moment. "I knew what he was going to do. All that time, I had assumed he was going to mimic what had happened on the island. Instead, he was going to reverse it. He was going to kill me and make Felicity and Laurel watch. I did exactly what he said."

As Oliver spoke these words, the images (as much of them as he could remember) flashed into his mind.

"I came into Verdant and sat down, just like he said, hands behind my back and legs crossed. It's a position of surrender."

"You weren't surrendering out of choice."

"No, I wasn't. I didn't have a choice because I had to protect the pair of them. But Slade knew. He always knew. I got there and then he sent Laurel out. I knew that she never really left, that she stayed and watched just as Felicity did but the implication was clear: I had already made my choice."

"That's not fair, Oliver." Diggle interrupted. "You know that's an impossible choice to make."

"It wasn't actually." Oliver whispered, a tear forming on the edge of his left eye. "I had already resigned myself that I was going to lose Laurel."

"Because you couldn't lose Felicity." Diggle finished.

"Yes." Oliver choked out. "I've lived with that guilt every day since then. Laurel and I have never talked about it but I think she knows. It's what I didn't fight her when she left but why I nearly flew after Felicity when she took off."

"She can't blame you."

"I don't."

In his moment with Diggle, Oliver had forgotten that they were still in the new ArrowCave (although using that name for this place felt dirty) and that others could hear them.

"Laurel." Oliver said in shock and embarrassment. "I'm sorry. You-"

"Would have made the same choice." Laurel finished. "Oliver, I love you. I always will and what we had was great. But what you have with Felicity, what you could have if either of you ever do something about it, that could be special. I knew that then as much as I resented it. I hated that I wasn't that to you anymore, Ollie. But deep down, I knew."

"How can you not blame me?" Oliver asked in shock.

"Because it would have been an impossible situation. You wouldn't have had a choice."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does." Laurel shot back, getting into Oliver's face. "You know that I saw the rest of what happened. I watched as Slade slowly removed every piece of his armor until he stood in front of you wearing-"

"His military fatigues from the island. He must have returned to the island and found them."

"Yes, I saw your face. In that moment, you broke. I'm still hazy as to your history but I could tell that he had once been your friend."

"My best friend." Oliver mused to himself.

"Exactly. You broke. I could see it in your face, your posture, your everything. Then, he threw the first punch and then the second and before I knew, I had lost count. He pummeled you, he destroyed you. Every day I look at you, I think back to you at that moment and I know that there is a God of some kind. You should be dead, Oliver. You stood there and took the best that super powered freak had to offer and you did it to save her life."

"What's your point, Laurel? How does this tell me why you don't blame me?"

"Because, Mr. Queen, I also saw what happened next. I saw Felicity Smoak scream your name and beg you, plead with you to fight back. Your hands weren't tied and you had long since fallen off your legs. You could have gotten up at any time but you were giving yourself up to Slade for her. But the second you heard her voice, that very moment, you somehow caught the next punch."

"You did what?" Diggle asked in shock.

"Slade threw a punch, a weak one by his standard but one he didn't expect to be blocked, and I grabbed it." Oliver admitted sheepishly.

"He didn't just grab his arm. He broke it." Laurel added. "In one move, Oliver had removed Slade's best asset, his right arm. Oliver had blood in his eyes, his face was swollen and he could hardly stand but it seemed at that moment, the fight was even."

"It wasn't." Oliver said, a small grin forming on his face. "Slade had made one fatal flaw."

"He removed his armor." Diggle concluded.

"He had." Oliver agreed. "While I had removed my quiver, I hadn't gotten rid of all of my flechettes. When I stood, I withdrew two and when he came at me, I stabbed him in the ribs with both of them. Then, I pulled out the next two and stabbed him in the chest."

"You knew that wouldn't kill him."

"I wasn't trying to kill him. Felicity had begged me not to kill him for his entire reign of terror. So, I hurt him enough that he would pass out. Then, I called Waller and had him flown out to the middle of the Sahara Desert where I told you that I dropped him out of the plane."

"What actually happened?"

"Oh, I still dropped him out of the plane but the Mirakuru in his system kept him alive. He came back to Starling while everyone else was away but I was able to subdue him and give him to Waller. The last I'd heard, she was taking the Mirakuru out of his system and then killing him."

"Why didn't she?" Laurel asked.

"Because Slade, even without the Mirakuru, is valuable to someone like Waller. She values people who are willing to do whatever it takes and Slade Wilson definitely falls into that category."

"She would lie to you like that?" Laurel asked in horror.

"You have no idea." Diggle grumbled.

"Either way, I don't blame you because, in that moment, I saw what she meant to you. Getting up in the first place, fighting back, was the riskiest thing you could have done. If you had lost, he could have hurt or killed Felicity, he would have tortured you. But you did it. For her."

"You don't sound angry."

"Like I said, I was for a bit. Then, I remembered that the Oliver that I loved, the immature playboy who made millions of the tabloids of Starling City, he died on that boat. He died on that boat along with the immature, selfish version of Sara. When the two of you came back, neither of you were the same and this was simply confirmation. In the past, someone like Felicity wouldn't have even appeared on your radar."

"No kidding."

"But the fact that you were willing to give your life for her. That said something to me. But the fact that you were willing to fight for her. That said more and I would have gladly given my life in that instance for the two of you to be happy. After all of the shit that's happened in your life, you should at least be given the chance to be happy."

"Thanks, Laurel." Oliver said as he leaned in to hug her. "You're a better friend than I could ask for."

"You know I am."

Suddenly, Thea came walking into the room, a worried look on her face.

"Thea?"

"I'm sorry to break up your little pow-wow but you really need to see this."

Thea turned on a dime and returned to the main room with Oliver, Diggle and Laurel following her closely. As Thea marched across the room, she pointed at the computer screen.

There, on the screen of their most secure computer system, was the face of Ra's al Ghul. Knowing that Ra's could probably hear them but obviously couldn't see him yet, Oliver quickly motioned for everyone else to exit the room to the same side area that Oliver and Diggle had started talking only a few minutes earlier.

Once everyone was clear, Oliver took a deep breath and then settled into Felicity's chair in front of the screen. Oliver was dismayed to see that the office Ra's now sat in was familiar.

It had previously been inhabited by Sebastian Blood.

During his time as Mayor.

"I would ask what you're doing there, but I can already guess." Oliver said darkly.

_"Mr. Queen, so good to see you again. Yes, as you have no doubt ascertained, The League of Assassins has come to Starling City in full force."_

"The genetically engineered ebola virus was a good first hint."

 _"It was, wasn't it?"_ Ra's laughed.  _"How about the large boats full of nothing but my army?"_

"Also very subtle."

_"I wasn't trying to hide from you, Mr. Queen. No, instead I was showing you exactly what you will be facing. This League has been around for longer than your family has even existed. Its techniques refined and its methods perfected. You are now facing a disease specifically engineered to wipe out massive parts of this city's population before my army takes over. My army of one thousand of the most highly trained soldiers and assassins on the planet."_

"You're forgetting one thing, Ra's."

_"What would that be?"_

"Amanda Waller." Oliver growled. "You're not a stupid man. I assume you've done your research. The last time someone threatened to take over Starling City, Waller was ready to nuke the whole city."

_"Yes, Mr. Queen, I did know that. But, as Ms. Smoak and her team will realize in the next few hours, the virus will not be affected by the heat of the blast. In fact, the wave associated with the blast would carry the contagions for the virus with it, blanketing a 50 mile radius with the disease. From that point, unless you come up with a cure in the next week, roughly 30% of the West Coast would be at immediate risk with San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas all being prime targets for carrier transmission."_

Dammit. This man really did plan everything out.

_"Either way, your mayor and City Council is dead, killed by the disease."_

"They were fine yesterday."

_"Yes, well when we break in and inject them directly with the virus, it tends to react slightly quicker than contracting the normal way."_

Damn it. Dammit. Fuck. He'd moved too quickly. Oliver had figured that they would have a couple days to move still. Instead, they were out of time now. Obviously, Ra's was able to read the frustration on Oliver's face.

_"Really, Mr. Queen, you were at a disadvantage before this ever began. I have been planning this attack since before you ended up on the island. Having lived as long as I have has taught me one thing above all else: patience. So, I waited until everything was perfect. My attack was ready to go until something changed it."_

"Me."

 _"Yes, you."_ Ra's growled, finally showing some semblance of emotion.  _"But not your appearance as The Hood. It was the combined appearance of Oliver Queen as a positive role model for the city and The Hood becoming something of a hero, now known as The Arrow and soon The Green Arrow. This was something I had never encountered. So, I changed my plan. Originally, we would simply infiltrate the city's infrastructure and have my agents take the city. But now, you were in the way."_

"You knew that I would fight back on both fronts. The people would see Oliver Queen and The Green Arrow resisting your men and it would have slowed you down."

_"Instead, I will show them the dead bodies of The Green Arrow and his allies. I will show your city your mutilated corpse. In that moment, your city will break and become mine. I must say, Mr. Queen, that it is too bad that you chose the wrong side in this particular fight. If you had only joined me, we would have been able to turn this city into a paradise in no time."_

"I have a feeling that your definition of paradise involves killing a lot of people."

_"Yes, but slowly. Unfortunately, you've pressed my hand. Now, my army, with the Mayor and City Council gone, will invade tonight at midnight. Once my League controls the streets, I will address the city and declare myself its new ruler. Eventually, the military or someone will attempt to take over but they will also know that it was I who released the ebola and that if anyone attempts to take Starling City from me, I will do the same to another city."_

"You're bluffing."

_"I have agents in place for such an attack in twenty-six cities across the country. The second a single military man or woman steps one foot inside Starling's city limits, another city is forced to go through what Starling City went through and each city has its own specifically tailored disease."_

If the man hadn't been threatening the life of everyone in Starling City, Oliver would have had to express some form of admiration for the man. As it was, Oliver felt a sick plunge in his stomach when he realized just how prepared this man was.

"Do what you have to, Ra's. Know that we're coming for you."

_"I simply cannot wait."_

* * *

As midnight approached, Team Arrow had bunkered down in the new ArrowCave. With nearly one thousand Assassins ready to be unleashed on the city, Oliver felt sick to his stomach knowing that he was allowing Ra's to take control of his city. However, he also knew that fighting that kind of force with just this group would be insane.

Instead, Oliver had focused on preparing for the aftermath. He had called his mother and told her to get out of the city. While she was confused, she had quickly thanked him and then hung up. Oliver was a bit sad, knowing that unless something else pushed him, that was probably the last interaction he would ever have with her. He was mostly sad because he wasn't that sad. He felt that he should have been, even with all the terrible things she had done to him and his family.

The next call Oliver had made had been to Detective Lance. He had warned Lance about what was coming. This called hadn't come from The Green Arrow but from Oliver himself. He let Lance know everything that he knew but had one set of instructions for him: let them come.

Not surprisingly, Lance thought he was crazy. It took Oliver explaining that fighting back tonight would be suicide and it would lead to a lot of civilian deaths. But, if they could be patient and wait it out, they could scope them out and fight back from the underground. In one fell swoop, they could cut off the Head of the Demon. Oliver also warned Lance that it was likely that someone higher up in the Police force was a member of the Demon's Head. So, he was to tell absolutely no one about this. Yes, it would only keep a few units out of the fighting but it would be better than nothing.

"You're hating yourself again, Ollie." Thea said as she sat down next to him. Oliver looked at his watch: 11:47. Just minutes away.

"I do." Oliver admitted. "There are two impossible options. We could go out there and get ourselves killed tonight."

"Or we could do the smart thing and wait it out." Roy finished. "Man, I know I haven't agreed with you on everything but I think when it all shakes out, the city would prefer us alive to dead."

"I know." Oliver said, appreciating Roy voicing his approval of Oliver's opinion. In the years since Roy joined their mission, Roy had gone from someone who Oliver ordered around to someone who Oliver respected. Not only did Roy always voice his opinion, popular or not, but he had also learned to trust Oliver to make the right choice, something that he didn't do when he first joined the crusade.

Finally, Laurel and Diggle came to join the three of them at the couches that had been installed just hours earlier in the new ArrowCave. This was most of the team, although Oliver's heart felt several holes in it.

Two to be exact.

One belonged to Sara. He knew that no matter what he did that hole would never go away. Certainly, the longer he lived and fought, the hole was shrink but at the end of the day, it would always be there. It was hurt just a bit every day as he remembered the woman who loved him silently and fought for him valiantly.

 _What a waste,_ Oliver thought to himself.

The other hole belonged to Felicity. With the city ready to go into lockdown, Oliver knew that she was going to be left out of the city until whatever end this came to. While Oliver should have been happy (she was safe afterall), Oliver could help but pine for her, desiring more than anything that she be there next to him. When Slade had attacked, when Merlyn had destroyed the Glades, it was Felicity that had kept him level, kept him from destroying himself and others.

Now, she was thousands of miles away, still fighting the good fight but one of a different level entirely.

Again, Oliver checked his watch: 11:56 PM. Time was closing in. Oliver didn't really know what to expect when the time hit but whatever it was, he knew he would feel a few things.

The first was sick. The thought of leaving his city sickened him to no end, despite knowing that it was the right choice.

The second was sadness. His city would be under attack, its citizens confused. Even if he had been out there to help them, he would have hated what they would have to go through.

The last was the most powerful. That one was rage. He knew that without Felicity, he would kill Ra's and Tommy if he got a chance. He didn't want to be a killer anymore but the damage they had caused him was irreparable.

Suddenly, his watch beeped.

Midnight had hit. For several minutes, the remaining members of Team Arrow waited and watched. In the area where they sat, Oliver had tapped into the city's surveillance system and they were able to watch most of the city. As they watched, Oliver reached down and hit the secure button on his tablet, locking the ArrowCave up tight.

No one would be able to get in and for the next few hours, none of them would want to get out.

Finally, at nearly 12:30, they finally got their first glimpse of what was coming. A line of men and women dressed in the black of The League of Assassins, a veritable army of Malcolm and Tommy Merlyns, marched down the main drag of the business district. As they did, they fanned out, ordering the people of Starling City back into their homes.

It wasn't until they approached the security camera nearest Queen Tower than Oliver got a glimpse of Tommy, leading a charge of nearly 100 Assassins to surround the building. As he ordered his men around and ordered civilians off the street, he suddenly looked up and smiled directly into the camera.

Ra's, and by extension Tommy, knew they were watching.

Suddenly, Oliver's phone rang. Looking down, Oliver saw that the number was blocked. As Oliver's eyes remained locked on the screen, he answered the phone, already knowing who it was.

"Waller."

_"Queen."_

"Going to nuke my city again?"

_"I'm certain that you know we can't do that."_

"I do." Oliver replied. "What's your plan?"

_"We will attempt to negotiate with The League of Assassins. However, we will be placing guards all around the city. Within the hour, no one will be getting in or out."_

"Do not attempt to enter the city."

_"Why not?"_

"I've talked with Ra's this evening. If the military intends to enter his city, he says that he has men in twenty-six cities nationwide ready to release some other virus on one of their cities. We'll just be trading one travesty for another."

_"You have one week, Queen. If you haven't come up with a solution before then, we'll have no choice but to attack."_

"Understood." Oliver replied as he hung up. Just as he did, the news station, which had been playing on silent in the corner, changed its image. Instead of the standard channel identification that had been running, Starling City was now greeted with the image of Ra's al Ghul, dressed for the first time in his own Assassin gear, in the office of the Mayor.

This was his address to the city, his first as the ruling party of the city.

_"People of Starling City, take heed! My name is Ra's al Ghul, Head of the Demon and you will listen. As we speak, my men and women are taking control of the streets of Starling. We have faced limited resistance from members of the Starling City Police Department. Within the next thirty minutes, we will have put down that particular unrest and this city shall be mine. For decades, the population of Starling City has allowed men of greed and arrogance control this city. You have allowed criminals and mobsters intimidate you into submission. In your desperation, you have turned to one man: The Green Arrow. But as my army takes control of this city, you must ask: Where is the Emerald Archer?"_

Oliver had expected this. He knew that he would attack The Green Arrow publicly as a way to persuade the people of Starling City away from him.

_"Your city has become weak. The Demon's Head will change that. Assuming you do as you are instructed, none of you shall be harmed as we transform this city into the utopia this Earth deserves. However, if you resist, you will be killed with extreme prejudice. Do not think that you will be able to talk your way out of this. More transmissions will be coming. I am The Head of the Demon and Starling City is mine."_

Finally, Ra's ended his transmission and the usual station identification returned. Oliver sat in sadness as he watched the streets of his city become occupied solely by the members of The League of Assassins. They lined every major street. Thankfully, they weren't killing anyone yet but Oliver knew it was only a matter of time.

"Well, at least we'll only have one threat to work against now."

 _That's not possible,_ Oliver thought. There's no way that particular voice should have been heard from inside the ArrowCave. But sure enough, as Oliver turned back towards the entrance, Oliver's eyes found the crystal blue eyes of Felicity Smoak. Instantly, Oliver launched himself over the couch before embracing her tightly.

For what seemed like forever, the two of them stood there just like that. She had only been gone a few days but with the threat that was coming, Oliver selfishly had hoped she would return so that he could see her one more time.

Oliver wasn't stupid. He knew that it was likely that this ended in his death. Ra's al Ghul was better trained that Slade and exponentially smarter. He was the greatest threat that Oliver had ever met and considering the people that Oliver knew, that said a lot.

So, Oliver figured his time on the globe was winding down. Not that he was going to go without a fight. Also, he wasn't going to go without telling Felicity how he felt about her and he didn't care who was with them.

"Felicity-"

"Oliver, I love you more than I thought was possible." Felicity interrupted him softly. "I couldn't let you face this by yourself. The second we got the motion reports that Ra's was moving, I got Bruce to send me back. We're going to beat him, Oliver."

"Of course we are." Oliver replied, lying to her slightly.

"Don't give me that look, dammit!" Felicity snapped at him. "You don't believe that."

"I love you, Felicity, and you being here is a big swing for us but I can't fight Ra's and that virus at the same time."

"Oh, you weren't really listening to me were you?" Felicity said with a grin. "I mean, I know I did kind of surprise you guys, showing up at the last minute and doing the terribly cliche "wait until the end of the broadcast to say something" schtick but I figured you would have at least kind of heard what I said."

"You said we only had to deal with one-what did you mean, Felicity?"

"I meant this." Felicity said, pulling up a clear vial. "If we can get this to STAR labs, we can cure that virus."

* * *

Very carefully and quietly, Oliver made his way out of the ArrowCave and across town. The League certainly was there in force but Oliver was better than any of their individual members. After nearly two hours of sneaking and waiting, Oliver finally reached STAR labs where Cisco Ramon waited for him.

"Is this it?" Cisco said as he met him on the roof of the building. Apparently, Cisco had been hiding in the building all day. Felicity had called him ahead and told him what was going to happen and that if they had any chance of stopping Ra's, they needed to cure this disease. He had done just that, hiding in the building all day.

"It is." Oliver said from behind his hood and voice disruptor.

"I can't work at night. They'll see the lights."

"At sunrise, we need you moving." Oliver said. "How quickly can you have enough for everyone in the city?"

"By myself?" Cisco said in shock. "It would take me at least three months."

"Just get started. Once you get 10,000 vials, call Felicity Smoak. She'll get in contact with me and we'll get them out to those who need them."

"10,000. That's a better number. That should be a day or two."

"Try and make it one."

"Will do." Cisco said before turning around to re-enter the building.

Once he was gone, Oliver took a second to relax before allowing himself just the smallest of grins.

_One threat down, one to go._


	15. XIV: Q. Lance

Eighteen hours later, Oliver, after sleeping fitfully for a few hours, stood in front of Team Arrow, ready to begin their counter attack. However, Oliver had something he wished to discuss with the team before they began their attack.

"Quentin Lance." Oliver said simply to his family. "In order for this to really work, he's going to need to be involved in the planning."

"How involved?" Diggle asked softly.

"Very. We don't have the numbers and we don't have the experience. What we have is the element of surprise."

"Ra's knows we're coming." Felicity reminded him.

"Yes, but he doesn't know when. It doesn't matter who you are, eventually you tire of being on guard duty and you get sloppy." Oliver answered. "We aren't going to go for the full effect for a few days. We hit smaller places to keep them on edge but eventually, they'll think that's all we're going to do."

"Then we hit." Laurel finished for him.

"Exactly. The issue with that is that we need Lance to tell us where his men are going to be stationed."

"What's the problem with that?" Thea asked.

Oliver was ready to answer when Diggle interrupted him.

"If Lance is as smart as we know he is, he'll want any information we have."

"I'm still not seeing the problem here." Thea replied.

"We can't trust any of our intel leaving this place, Thea." Oliver answered. "We would have to bring Lance here."

"Oh." Thea said with a look of understanding on her face.

The current ArrowCave didn't hold the same significance to Oliver Queen as the previous one did. However, Oliver didn't want this to be a one-on-one meeting between The Green Arrow and Lance. He needed everyone,  _everyone,_ to be present so that there were no mistakes. A single mistake and the whole thing would come undone.

And each one of them would die a slow and terrible death at the hands of Ra's al Ghul.

So, it was in Oliver's opinion that the only way to coordinate their counter attack was by letting Lance in on their secret: all of their secret. It was because of this that Oliver again brought this to the group. It was no longer his own identity that was at risk. Lance already knew that he was The Green Arrow. But he didn't know that Laurel had taken Sara's place. He didn't know that Roy was the Arsenal.

He probably had a good idea but he didn't  _know._ Now, if the public ever turned against The Arrow, Oliver could be taken in and lie and deny and hold out the rest of their identities. However, if he knew the identities of each and every member of Team Arrow, then it would be Lance's responsibility to turn them all in.

It was a huge risk and one that Oliver hated even considering. But, if not considered, Oliver feared that Starling City would live under the permanent rule of Ra's al Ghul and that was something Oliver simply could not allow.

"Let him in." Laurel said softly. "Of all of us, I'm the one that would hurt him most. The knowledge that I lied to him just like Sara did will hurt him but if I think he should know, then he should know."

"It's not that simple." Diggle disagreed. "We know what this means if we get caught. Lance can't protect us anymore. We all know that he's not dumb. He probably has a very good who each of us is because of his personal relationship with Laurel and Oliver. But if he knows, then he  _knows_ and he can't hide anymore, he won't."

"We know that, Digg." Oliver replied. "But it's a risk we have to take. If we don't, Starling City belongs to Ra's al Ghul."

Looking around, Oliver saw that everyone was coming to the same realization that he had had the night before. Lance had to be involved which means he needed to know.

"Bring him in." Felicity said firmly. "Let's get our city back."

* * *

Later that night, Oliver stood on the rooftops of Starling City. Looking down at the corner of Adams and Blackthorne, Oliver saw that Detective Lance had followed his instructions to a T. He stood in the darkness just behind the only lamp at that corner and waited, just as Oliver had told him.

Quickly, Oliver leapt down the side of the building he stood on to where Diggle waited, dressed in his vigilante gear, with the black unmarked vehicle that Oliver had purchased just for things like this. The moment Oliver took his seat behind him, Diggle pulled out into the street, coming into Detective Lance's view.

As they pulled up, Oliver could see that the man was confused but still confident to keep going. Diggle stopped instantly and gave Oliver enough time to open the door, fully dressed as the Arrow.

"Get in." Oliver said, his voice hidden behind his disruptor.

"You got it." Lance said before quickly getting in the vehicle. Once the door shut behind Lance, Diggle raced off. Being out on the streets right now wasn't allowed and therefore, quite dangerous.

"What's with the get-up?" Lance questioned. "I know who you are, Queen."

"You do." Oliver replied, turning off his disruptor. "However, if anyone else had seen us, I couldn't have them associating Oliver Queen and Quentin Lance in the days before The Green Arrow leads an assault against The League of Assassins. As far as the world is concerned, Oliver Queen is with the rest of his family barricaded inside Queen Mansion."

"Fair enough." Lance replied and that was the last that was said for the rest of the short trip back to the new ArrowCave.

The new ArrowCave was located in a bunker just down the street from Queen Tower, one of the most secure places in the city on its own. Unfortunately, that also meant that it was nearest to one of the main groups of Assassins currently controlling the city. Thankfully, Oliver had created several secret entrances, each accessible from the road.

All it took was Diggle driving into the alley behind the Subway nearest Queen Tower to activate the ramp. Each of Oliver's cars was equipped with a laser chip in it that a sensor recognized, opening the door. Without it, the alleyway functioned like normal. It had taken faking a gas explosion to install it in the first place, something Oliver was not particularly proud of.

Either way, Diggle managed to pull into the underground bunker with no problems. As they pulled in, Oliver opened the door allowing Lance out of the door. Following him, Oliver stood up to see all of Team Arrow, Felicity included, hovering around the vehicle, waiting for Oliver's okay.

"I see the gang's all here." Lance said softly.

"Guys." Oliver said before removing his own mask. As he did, every member of Team Arrow removed their masks, revealing their identity to Detective Lance. As Lance scanned the group, he came eye-to-eye with his own daughter.

"Laurel?" Quentin whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Honoring Sara in the only way I know how." Laurel said as she removed the wig she was wearing to reveal her own brunette hair color. "And don't think Oliver asked this of me. I had to beg him to let me do this."

"Why did you say yes?" Quentin roared, turning on Oliver who remained motionless next to him.

"Because she's every bit your daughter, Quentin." Oliver replied calmly. "I looked into her eyes and saw the same determination in them that I saw in Sara's. It's the same look I see in your eyes. It's the Lance family trait, and its curse. You believe in justice, you believe in this city and these are traits that you passed down to your daughters."

"Yes, it's why Laurel is a lawyer. It's why Sara was going to school to be a social worker."

"It's also why Sara came back and became the hero she was." Oliver said, staring down the older man. "It's the same reason Laurel did the same thing. They believe in the law, they believe in justice. But they know the same thing that I do: in a city as bad as Starling City, sometimes the law just doesn't cut it."

"Bullshit!" Quentin growled, accidentally spitting in Oliver's face. "She does it for you! They both did!"

"They both know that isn't going to happen." Oliver said softly.

"And why is that? Neither of them had ever been able to avoid your charms before, Queen. Why now?"

"Because Oliver loves me."

Well that was...unexpected. Everyone in the room turned to Felicity, the one who had spoken above the rest of them. For a second, Oliver thought Felicity may be sick with all of this kind of attention on her. However, once all the eyes in the room were on her, all she did was smile and continue.

"Sara knew it. Laurel knows it." Felicity said sadly. "Maybe in the beginning, Sara changed because she loved Oliver. But when it became obvious that Oliver was no longer interested in her, she _stayed_ who she was because it was what she wanted. Laurel has known for two years that Oliver loved me and yet, she came back to Starling City and  _chose_ to become The Black Canary."

"The Black Canary?" Lance asked before turning to Laurel. "I thought it was just The Canary."

"I did it to honor Sara." Laurel said simply.

"Felicity's right." Oliver admitted before swallowing tightly. This was going to be one of the hardest admissions Oliver had made in his entire life. "I love her. I did love your daughters, Detective, but it was different. It was an older love, a love of a time long past. As much as it pains me to admit in front of everyone, Felicity is the love of my life. She's grounded me over the years, kept me sane and she believes in me more than anyone that isn't biologically related to me should."

"She must be insane." Quentin muttered to himself.

"I'm not." Felicity said, suddenly marching right up to Quentin and matching him nose-to-nose. "Oliver Queen is not perfect. He's moody and he has trouble listening to others. He's intentionally secretive and doesn't always see things clearly. For the longest time, Oliver marched to the beat of his own drum, ignoring the true problems for more personal ones."

Listening to Felicity talk about Oliver like this was hard, especially her referencing him choosing Laurel over Diggle just before the Undertaking. However, she was right and it was something that Oliver had sought to change over the years.

"However, the Oliver of today is a much better man than anyone, including himself, gives him credit for. He would single-handedly protect this city, even if it meant giving up on everything that made him happy. He would lay down his life for this city and the ones he loves. His appreciation for those around him has increased as he continues to see how happy they make him."

"How do you know all this?" Lance asked curiously.

"Because when Slade Wilson attacked Starling City two years ago, I watched it first hand. I watched as Oliver gave himself up to Slade Wilson, thinking it was the only way to keep me and this city safe. Then, when he realized that he could fight back, that he could win, he nearly gave his life fighting to beat him. It was in that moment that I realized how much I loved him."

"Excuse me?" Lance muttered.

"I do." Felicity said before glancing over at Oliver, grinning slightly. "He's not perfect but neither am I. Maybe if we get out of this, something can happen between the two of us. Either way, that's why your daughters aren't doing this for him, they're doing it for themselves."

While Oliver knew that a conversation like this was important (and Oliver appreciated Felicity saying what she had said out loud), they had better things to get to work on.

"Detective, look around." Oliver said, cutting their conversation short. "We've removed our masks. You now know each and every one of us. As someone who has been on the short list for promotion in recent years, you must realize how risky this is for us. We're placing our trust in you because if we don't, this city goes up in flames. So, what do you say we get to work?"

"This is your show, Queen. What do you have?" Lance replied as he looked across to the map of Starling City displayed on their projection board. "So you're segmenting the city into patrol routes. That's good. I'll have my people forward you the patrol routes we've been taking to get around the city without the League noticing us."

"That would be much appreciated." Oliver said, smiling at Felicity behind Lance. "You have more resources and people than we do. Do you know any places of high concentration? Any places where there seem to be a vast number of Assassins?"

Looking at the map, Lance thought for a minute before reaching up and pointing towards the downtown area of Starling City. More specifically, he pointed at the abandoned Merlyn Global Group building.

"Unsurprisingly, we've seen a high concentration of The League around the old Merlyn Building. We think that they're using it because of old man Merlyn's connections with some folks in Asia. Apparently, some of them were connected to The League."

Not an entirely incorrect version of the story but still wrong nonetheless.

"Malcolm Merlyn was trained by The League of Assassins. It's where he was in the two years that he disappeared in Tommy's youth. But you don't have to worry about Malcolm Merlyn, he's dead."

"Yeah, you killed him during The Undertaking."

"I only thought I did." Oliver admitted. "Unfortunately, my mother admitted as much that he had survived. But again, he's dead now."

"Who did it?"

"Tommy." Oliver said simply, allowing the truth to sink in a second before he continued. "Actually, Nyssa al Ghul killed him but it was supposed to be Tommy's job."

"How in the hell is Tommy even alive? We all saw his body in the morgue. Two giant holes from re-bar through him. There's no way he should have survived."

"He didn't. However, The League recovered his body and brought him back to life. But as part of Malcolm's punishment for his behavior in Starling City, both of them were sworn into a lifetime of service to Ra's al Ghul. Eventually, Tommy was made an Assassin and he was assigned to kill Malcolm. Malcolm got wind and tried to kill his son but Nyssa al Ghul got to Malcolm first."

"So that's why they're all there? In the Merlyn Building?"

"I would assume it's Tommy's way of taunting me." Oliver reasoned. "Tommy's been made one of the leaders of The League or at least one of the leaders here in Starling. I should have assumed that they would use the Merlyn Building for cover. It's been empty since the Undertaking."

"People probably had a hard time thinking about purchasing and moving into the building where the mastermind of The Undertaking did all of his business."

"Hence the reason the city has been trying to have it torn down." Felicity added. "To no avail obviously."

"Well, we aren't going to give them that opportunity." Oliver replied before turning to Felicity. "How many people actually live in downtown?"

"I'm not certain." Felicity admitted. "I assume you mean the area directly around the Merlyn Building."

"Yes."

"I can't be sure without doing some research. If I had to guess, I would say somewhere around two or three hundred people. That area is almost exclusively commercial properties."

"Good." Oliver replied before turning to Digg. "How much explosive do we have?"

"Are you seriously thinking about doing what I think you're thinking about doing?" Felicity asked from next to him.

"I am." Oliver admitted before heading over to their computer. Instantly, Felicity stepped in front of him. The look on her face was one that Oliver had never seen before. She had been angry or disappointed in him but this was something different. It was a mix of both of those emotions, only the intensity was so much more than Oliver had ever seen from her.

"You can't be serious, Oliver." Felicity nearly growled.

"What does he want to do?" Lance asked in confusion.

Thankfully, it was Diggle who answered instead of the two staring lasers at each other.

"He wants to blow up The Merlyn Building." Diggle said simply.

"Are you insane!? Hundreds of people will die in that kind of blast!"

"NO!" Oliver roared.

If they would just let him explain, they would understand. But they weren't going to let them, so Oliver decided that he had to force them to listen.

"Listen!" Oliver growled again. "I'm going to explain this to you once. If you still think I'm crazy or that it's too dangerous, then we'll come up with something else. However, if you listen, I know I can convince you that this can work while limiting as many causalities as possible."

Looking around the room, Oliver could tell that most of them were angry with him for even suggesting this. He couldn't say that he'd blame them. This idea was insane but it wasn't nearly as dangerous as they thought it would be.

"Starling City is not New York, Gotham or Metropolis. Queen Tower is the tallest building in the city and it's only about 50 stories tall. The Merlyn Building stands at 45 stories. If you assume that each story is about 12 feet tall, that's 540 feet tall. The tallest building ever destroyed using the building implosion method was about 420 feet tall."

"You've really been researching this, haven't you?" Laurel asked.

"I'm part of a Starling City Committee designed to help the city recover after The Undertaking and Slade's rampage. Removing the Merlyn Building has been one of our top priorities. Every company that's come in has said that it can definitely be done but they aren't willing to take the risk that it may damage nearby building, which they were sure would happen."

"So what happens when it does happen this time?" Roy questioned him.

"I pay for it." Oliver said softly. "I'll set up an anonymous fund to pay back to the people who've had their properties damaged by The League and the fight to stop them. The only people that would get hurt would be The League inside the building and likely a few people in the surrounding buildings."

"You're willing to accept that?" Lance asked. "People may die, people may be injured."

"When Slade attacked Starling City, Felicity told me that I needed to play my own game. I needed to do something that would be unthinkable for my opponent, something they never assumed I would do. I didn't listen."

"So?"

"When I didn't listen, I ended up getting the shit kicked out of me before I was able to subdue Wilson and Felicity left town. I'm not making that same mistake again."

"So, because you want to keep your girlfriend in town when this is all over, you're willing to sacrifice innocent lives."

"You missed the point, Detective." Oliver said, chuckling softly to himself. "Felicity left as a side effect. There are a number of things I could have done to stop Slade but all of them were unthinkable to me. Ra's al Ghul and Tommy Merlyn would never think that I could do something like this."

"Because it's insane!" Felicity shouted.

"Because it's risky!" Oliver countered. "Because it's not certain. Because it could have far reaching consequences that I can't predict. In the past, I would have never considered something like that."

"Why are you considering it now?" Lance asked.

Why was he considering it? It was a good question. From the moment that Lance had mentioned The Merlyn Building, this idea had popped into his head. Why? Because, if Oliver was honest, he needed a way to balance the scales. They couldn't fight this many Assassins. Not only would this remove an ugly reminder of the terrorism that Merlyn had laid siege to this city with, it would also remove a good number of Assassins.

Two birds, one stone.

"Because it serves numerous purposes. First, we finally get rid of that building and the constant reminder of The Undertaking that it provides. Also, we can get rid of Tommy and a large number Assassins at the same time and even the odds."

"Your definition of even still has us fighting 500 Assassins against this group here." Diggle replied.

"Yup."

"Your sense of even is kind of fucked up, brother." Thea muttered to herself.

"Listen to me," Oliver pleaded. "I can't promise that this won't blow up in our faces, literally even. However, what I can promise is that this is the easiest way to remove Tommy and some of these Assassins from this situation. We all know I have a very tenacious relationship with death and me causing it. In this situation, I can't see any other way. We need to remove some of Ra's army before we can even hope to truly fight back,  _permanently._ This does sound insane, even to me. But it also sounds like our best shot."

For several seconds, Oliver stood there as Lance and the rest of his Team stood and stared at him in silence. Finally, the most unlikely voice spoke up.

"Tell us what to do." Felicity whispered behind him. He turned to look her in the eye and could see the disappointment on her face.

"Why?" was all Oliver had to ask.

"Because I trust you. Above all, I trust you."

"Thanks." Oliver said softly. She would never really know what those words meant to him. "Now, let's get to work."

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing this." Roy grumbled as he put his hood up.

"Kid, at least you volunteered for this." Slade growled next to him.

"Quiet, both of you." Oliver said slowly as he observed the Merlyn Building.

After much discussion the previous evening, Lance and Oliver had finally come up with a plan. Lance would organize a SWAT team force armed with everything they had. The force would be limited to about fifty officers. Anything larger and they risked literally starting a battle with The League right in the middle of the city, something Oliver was hoping to avoid. However, if the force was too small, The League would crush them.

Either way, the attack wasn't the point. It the fact that they were going to retreat.

Slowly.

About five minutes after a very foolish frontal assault, Lance would "realize" that they had made a poor choice and pull back. Again, the timing of this was everything. If they retreated too quickly, The League wouldn't follow. If they fell back slowly, they would surely be massacred by The League.

So, it happened that Oliver, Roy and Slade stood on the rooftop of a building adjacent to The Merlyn Building, watching as the Starling City Police fought The League of Assassins. The point of this attack was to draw at least part of the force away from the Merlyn Building, allowing the three of them to sneak into the building and set the explosives that they needed to set to bring the building down safely.

The idea was to blow the bottom supports and the elevator shaft, with the elevators blowing just seconds before the bottom supports. If that happened correctly, the building would fall into itself without creating a massive air pocket in the wreckage. If that happened, Oliver hoped they would be able to avoid a massive dust cloud covering the entire downtown air in ash and gravel.

 _"How are they doing?"_ Laurel asked in Oliver's ear.

"They're struggling." Oliver admitted sadly, grimacing as he watched the city's legal defenders put up a futile effort against the lifelong trained Assassins. "It should only be a few seconds now before they pull back."

_"Is my dad still down there?"_

_"I'm here."_ Lance replied into the communicator.  _"Pulling my squad back now."_

"Good. Arrow out." Oliver said shortly. The second the words were out of his mouth with Slade and Roy on his heels. They raced across the rooftop before reaching the closest point between Merlyn Building and any of the neighboring building. Their goal was to enter on a floor that was either abandoned or limited in enemy resistance. For that, they turned to their eagle eye.

"Hood, what do you we have going on in there?"

Their answer came from the man stationed on the roof of Queen Tower with a sniper rife and scope.

_"The floor below you has at least fifteen people on it. Two floors down is the same. Three floors down, however, is nearly empty."_

"Three floors down it is."

_"Oliver, that angle is really steep. The speed you'll be going is too fast. I know you're good but I'm not sure that even you could stop yourself in time."_

"I'll make it." Oliver said simply before drawing his bow, drawing back a zipline arrow.

_"GA..."_

"Not now, Felicity." Oliver answered Felicity's worried voice shortly. This shot needed to be perfect. Too high and Oliver would be forced to work his way down to the window. Too low and he'd hit the window. Either the window would break, altering the Assassins inside to their presence, or it wouldn't break and Oliver would have wasted their only shot at getting over to the building.

Slowly, Oliver breathed in, allowing the air to flow through his nostrils before his eyes snapped open, locking in on his target. With a single twitch, the arrow leapt from his bow, flying across the area between the two buildings before embedding itself perfectly just above the window three floors down from them.

With a satisfied smirk, Oliver hooked the backside of the zipline into the side of the building he stood on. Using a tech that Felicity had created, the three prongs on the bit drilled into the wall, anchoring it into the side of the building. Now, it was take six sumo wrestlers trying to zipline across at the same time before that would break free.

Sitting down, Oliver hooked his bow into the zipline before closing his eyes, allowing his breath to calm him down. Internally, he knew that Diggle was right. This angle was very steep considering the extreme drop he was about to make in the short distance between the buildings.

_"GA..."_

"I'll be fine, Oracle." Oliver said softly, his eyes remaining closed. Suddenly, he allowed himself to drop off the side of the building, almost instantly picking up speed. Thankfully, the short distance didn't allow him to pick up too much speed so that when he made contact with the other side of the building, he was able to take an arrow into his hand and drive it into the wall, anchoring him in place without making so much as a sound.

Quickly, Oliver placed his feet on the small ledge just outside the window before grabbing his bow and placing it on his back. Working with haste, Oliver reached into the bottom of his quiver and pulled out another invention of his mad scientist "girlfriend." This particular item was a foam. However, this foam was no normal foam. No, it was a foam with a fluoroantimonic acid base. Fluoroantimonic acid is the world's most formidable super-acid, capable of literally disintegrating glass.

Sure enough, the second Oliver started to apply it, the glass in the window in front of him simply fell away. With its quick spreading delivery system, the entire window was gone in second. As Oliver stepped inside the building, he felt Roy and Slade land just behind him.

"Remember the plan," Oliver started. "Slade, get to the base of the building and start planting. Roy, you're in charge of the main elevator shaft and maintance shaft in the center of the building."

"While you get to fight your way to the top of the building to distract them." Roy said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm the one that Tommy is most likely to take seriously."

"Let's get moving." Slade said before taking off at a sprint.

Knowing that Slade was right, Oliver withdrew his bow and nocked an arrow, always ready from this moment forward. As Roy ran out of his vision towards the main elevator bay, Oliver followed Slade until Slade ducked into a stairwell. In his head, Oliver did the math. They had arrived somewhere in the thirties. If that was true, then Slade had at least thirty floors plus the four basement levels to get the building supports.

If each floor took him ten seconds to get down, then he would need at least six minutes of time to get down. From there, it would take him another ten to set up the explosives and another five minutes to get back up to the main level and then out of the building. That was at least twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes was a long time to create a distraction. Thankfully, he was fairly equipped to do that and he had a large police force outside to assist him.

Suddenly, Oliver noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Instantly, his bow was up and drawn as the assassin he spotted saw him.

_Breath, release._

With the smallest twitch of his finger, the arrow flew, hitting the masked man in the chest, killing him instantly. Oliver grimaced at his actions. However, he knew that he had no choice.

Plus, if their plan worked, they would all be dead in a matter of hours anyway.

"Deathstroke, status update."

_"Floor sixteen. No resistance thus far."_

"Knock on wood. Arsenal, update."

_"Killed two on the way to the elevators. Set six of twenty four explosives."_

"Good. Keep moving."

Oliver made his way to move when an arrow flew just passed his nose. Instantly, Oliver drew an arrow and turned, seeing three Assassins staring at him in the darkness.

_Breath, release._

Again, Oliver fired. This time, it hit the middle Assassin in the arm, wounding him before Oliver sprinted for cover. As he did, he grabbed a fletchette and threw it at the left most Assassin.

On this throw, his aim was true as the fletchette struck the Assassin just between the eyes, killing him instantly. Now, they were down to one injured and one active Assassin.

Suddenly, he heard the Assassin speaking in what Oliver assumed as Arabic into a radio. That was not good. Oliver was supposed to create a distraction, not cause half the League to show up to find him.

Deftly, Oliver double-tapped his mic, a silent request for another update.

_"Floor ten."_

_"Ten of twenty four."_

They weren't moving fast enough. Looking over the desk he was hiding behind, Oliver used his new and improved mask to help him out. Clicking a button, Oliver's vision changed, allowing him to see the outline of everything in the darkness of the derelict building. Seeing that outline allowed him to see that his one opponent hadn't hidden himself as well as he'd thought.

Taking that opportunity, Oliver silently stood, pulling an arrow from his quiver and nocking it.

_Draw, breath, release._

As Oliver released, the arrow snapped into the air, striking his target in the one section of his shoulder that he had left uncovered. The arrow drove through the man, sticking out and causing the man to collapse to the ground in pain. Instantly, Oliver leapt over the desk and approached his target. On his way there, he saw that the first Assassin he had struck had now passed out due to lack of blood.

Reaching the final target, Oliver pulled the arrow out of the man's shoulder and then driving it into his eye, killing him quickly to prevent the man from suffering. If Oliver was forced to kill someone, at the very least he preferred that his target not suffer for it, even if he was part of an evil army that had taken over his city.

Quickly, Oliver scanned the room and saw that he was alone. For a second, Oliver contemplated just exactly how he wanted to do this. He knew that The League was now aware of their presence, per the warning the Assassin had assuredly just sent to the rest of his  _friends._ Either way, Oliver knew that his time was short and he needed to move.

Moving with as much speed as he could, Oliver found the nearest staircase and started climbing. Oliver knew the one thing that would cause the largest distraction: finding Tommy. But where would he be? Most of Tommy's tactics since his return to Starling City had been designed intentionally to harm Oliver in some way. He would be in the building somewhere but where?

He could choose his old office, the one that Oliver had visited him at just before The Undertaking. He could choose the main boardroom, the one that Malcolm had intentionally built facing Queen Tower so that he could "keep an eye on his competition." Personally, Oliver thought it was so he could keep an eye on his parents but that hardly mattered anymore.

The most likely location, however, was Malcolm's office. Tommy, in his return to Starling City, had made it quite clear that he viewed himself as a better, less psychotic version of his father. He had returned to Starling and beaten Oliver, along with Ra's al Ghul, at every turn. He had attacked Oliver when he'd least expected it, returned to shock him and been generally one step ahead of him before Oliver even realized that they were at odds.

So, Oliver passed the floor that Tommy's office had been on and the one where the board room was located. Instead, he climbed all the way to the top, surfacing in the former office of Malcolm Merlyn.

Sure enough, seated at the desk where his father once sat, was the new crazed scion of the Merlyn family, Thomas.

"Oliver, I hope my men gave you a good fight." Tommy said softly. Instead of the Assassin garb that Oliver had seen him in recently, Tommy wore the same style suit that his father had worn. Dark and cut perfect to his figure. In a different time, he would have looked right at home as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Now, he sat as the leader of his own team of Assassins, taking control of his hometown in the most violent way imaginable.

"They didn't." Oliver replied shortly before pulling back his hood and taking a seat across from his old friend. "I did leave one of them alive."

"That's too bad." Tommy answered. "He will be punished in ways far worse than the quick death you would have given him."

"Not my problem." Oliver said. "You don't need to do this, Tommy."

"I do. Starling City is a cancer. A cancer that needs to be extracted from the world."

"You didn't believe that before." Oliver shot back. "Before you died, you were convinced that I was mad, that I was a serial killer. Then, you come back and you say that the reason you changed your mind was that you had realized how terrible your father was."

"He was." Tommy growled.

"How many people did your father kill, Tommy?"

"Over the years, hundreds. How many have you killed as The Vigilante?"

"I'm not The Vigilante, not anymore." Oliver answered. "Not after you died! I knew that it was my actions that had led your death,  **MINE!** It was on me. So I changed. I went on a different path."

"So did I, Queen." Tommy said, his voice echoing across the office with intensity. "My path took me into a pine box."

"And yet, here you are." Oliver replied simply. "Here you are, following in your father's footsteps. Bettering them either."

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked.

"Well, The Undertaking killed 503 people. It probably resulted in hundreds of deaths after the fact with people dying of homelessness, various injuries and things of that nature. So we'll add 100 more for that. Then, he probably killed a couple hundred more over the time that he was planning The Undertaking and more than likely a few hundred when he was with The League."

"What's your point?"

"15,000 people died because of that poison that you released on our city.  **15,000 PEOPLE!"** Oliver screamed, pounding the desk in front of Tommy, causing Tommy to jump slightly. "You are the monster your father could never be."

"Those deaths are on you." Tommy answered with a smirk. "If you'd only been able to stop us, no one would have had to die. If you had just given in, if you hadn't resisted, then no lives would have been lost."

"You're wrong and I think you know it." Oliver returned. "You led Ra's here. You are the one with the information. Without that, Ra's wouldn't have been nearly as successful as he's been. He wouldn't have known our city's weaknesses and he would have been in a weaker starting place. You gave that to him. In the end, all of this, whatever goes down, it's on you, Tommy. Fifteen thousand and counting. It must really weigh on you. All those deaths."

Finally, Tommy seemed to have enough of Oliver. Slowly, he stood, buttoning his suit before he leaned over the desk, leveling himself with Oliver.

"You have forty seconds."

Suddenly, Tommy withdrew a knife from his jacket and threw it at the window, shattering it in one throw.

"You'll probably want to warn Wilson and Harper as well."

His words spoken, he turned and sprinted before leaping out the window. As he did, reached up and grabbed hold of a line between The Merlyn Building and the next building over. Grabbing the line, Tommy reached into his jacket and withdrew a small device that latched onto the line. Suddenly, the small motor in the device kicked in, pushing Tommy quickly across the gap.

Reaching the other building, Tommy turned and waved before turning and disappearing into the darkness.

"SLADE, ROY: YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS TO GET OUT! MOVE!"

In a flash, Oliver sprinted across the room, leaping from the window and latching onto the same rope that Tommy had just used. Grabbing one of the knives that Oliver stored on him, he cut the line. For a second, Oliver felt gravity pull him straight to the ground before the rope tightened and swung Oliver down and into one of the windows the adjacent building.

Standing, Oliver called over the comm.

"Roy! Slade!"

 _"I'm out!"_ Roy called over the line.

"Good. Keep running!" Oliver replied. "Slade?"

_"I'll get out but I could use some cover!"_

Instantly, Oliver saw what his nemesis meant. Slade was sprinting out of the front steps of the Merlyn Building with various Assassins trailing him. Moving as fast as he could, Oliver drew his bow and fired.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven Assassins killed before they could get to or kill Slade Wilson. Seven deaths to save the man who tried to kill his mother, his sister and everyone he loved. This was who he was forced to work with to save his city.

Oliver had drawn his bow to fire and stop the last of the Assassins when a flash of light nearly blinded him out of the corner of his eye. Then, a shockwave blasted the windows out from all around him and threw him backwards. As he looked up from his back, all Oliver could see was fire racing towards him. Scrambling to his feet, Oliver ran faster than he'd ever run in his life.

Drawing his bow, he fired an arrow straight through the window in front of him, shattering it. Stowing his bow once more, Oliver raced as fast as his body would allow him before launching himself out of the window. Once Oliver was clear of the building and the explosion, Oliver quickly utilized one of the new additions to his new armor and pulled the drawstring on his back.

A small parachute, designed not to truly to slow him down but instead to deploy faster than any normal chute and give him better control, fired out of the back of his armor. Quickly, Oliver grabbed the controls and directed himself towards another nearby building. As Oliver hit the roof of the building, he released the chute before tucking and rolling onto the rooftop.

As he did, the hard concrete of the surface ripped at the outer cloth of Oliver's suit and his skin. He stood cut, slashed and generally disheveled but altogether alive. He also stood and watched as the Merlyn Building swayed under its own weight.

"Roy? Slade?"

 _"We're out and safe."_ Slade replied.  _"What did Merlyn do?"_

"What we were going to do. Only I don't think he did it the safe way."

Sure enough, the building suddenly stopped rocking. Instead, it crashed under its own weight, sinking into the ground in a cloud of smoke and dust. The cloud grew until the air pressure exploded as the top of the building hit the pile, pressing the cloud out away from the tower's former location.

"Everyone move." Oliver whispered. "There's nothing more we can do here."

* * *

Oliver was the first one to return to the ArrowCave, having forgone the typical team meetup and returned right away. When the rest of the team returned, they found a frightened Felicity Smoak staring at a raging Oliver Queen. At least two of the computers had been partially over turned and the glasses cases that held Diggle and Roy's costume mannequins lay on their sides, their contents scattered and glass shattered all over the floor.

As the rest of the team stopped at the bottom of the stairs, Oliver finished his tirade by lifting the salmon ladder straight off the ground and toppling it with a vengeful growl.

For several seconds, no one moved. No spoke. The only sound in the room was the sound of the small pieces of glass breaking under Oliver's boot as he rocked back in forth, breathing deeply in a rage.

Finally, it was John who spoke up.

"Yeah, I hated those things anyway." Diggle said as he started to remove parts of his costume.

"Personally, I always found it a bit strange that you kept your uniforms on display." Slade said as he too began to disrobe.

"It was Felicity's thing." Roy muttered, mostly to himself, before approaching Felicity. "Are you okay?"

"I b-b-be fine." Felicity said, her voice trembling slightly. Seeing this, Roy turned his attention to their leader. Drawing himself just a hair taller, Roy marched straight towards Oliver. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Felicity's terrified, this place is a mess! What is wrong with you?"

Unfortunately, this was probably the worst question that Roy could have asked. Rounding on him, Oliver was instantly in Roy's face, his rage piqued.

"What is wrong with me? You want to know what's wrong." Oliver barked, taunting Roy with a rare showmanship. "My city is still recovering from the effects of a deadly strain of the ebola virus. It's under attack by a man that has found the fountain of youth and leads an army of the highest trained assassins on Earth. But do you really want to know what's wrong? What's really burning my gears?"

"Yeah, I think we do!" Roy said, not daring to back down even for a second.

"My best friend, before the island and after, was Tommy Merlyn. There was nothing we didn't do together or know about each other. Then, he died." Oliver said, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "I based the foundation of our changed mission on honoring his memory. For nearly three years, I fought as The Arrow and then as The Green Arrow. Now, he's back."

"So what?" Slade mumbled. "He's back from the dead. It's not surprising considering the things we've seen."

"It's not even that he came back from the dead at all." Oliver replied. "It's  _how_ he came back. He came back with all of the worst parts of him. It's like the parts of Tommy that him who he was, it's like they aren't there anymore. All the fun, the joy that he had in his life, it's gone. It's replaced with all the mania and rage that his father held. It's like Merlyn's mind has infected him."

"So we fight him." Roy whispered. "We get back on our feet and we fight him like we always do."

"Honestly, I'm not sure that I can." Oliver answered. "Thinking back, I've had so many opportunities to just put an arrow into him. I could have ended it tonight. Instead, I sit and listen for something,  _anything,_ that will give me another route. But the more that I think about it, I just don't think we can wait any longer."

"What are you saying, Oliver?" Felicity asked, suddenly snapping out of her fearful state.

"I don't even know." Oliver said, sinking to the floor with his hands over his head. "This needs to end. After what he did today, I know there's nothing he won't do. I'm just not sure that I can kill him."

"Then, don't." Diggle answered. "Just put him down and we'll give him to Waller."

"Yeah, because that worked so well for me." Slade countered before turning to Oliver. "Queen, this Merlyn may inhabit the same body of your friend but that person is dead. Just put him down...or I will."

Oliver was about to speak when Felicity suddenly turned from her spot and rounded on Slade.

"Who are you to talk?" Felicity snapped. "Do you realize how that sounds coming from you? You masterminded the murder of hundreds of innocent people! The only reason you're still alive is because Oliver decided NOT to kill you."

While Oliver was slightly afraid of what Slade would say in response, he had to smirk slightly at Felicity's behavior. Gone was the frightened woman she had been at times. Instead, she was standing face-to-face with a ASIS agent who had orchestrated the murder of hundreds and screaming at him.

"Ms. Smoak, I understand how it sounds." Slade replied softly. "But what you don't understand is the power that the Mirakuru has over you. I lived for over five years with that poison in my system. During that time, each and every day, I lost more of myself to it. If Merlyn has been alive with that in his system for six years, then unless we can cure him, it may be too late."

"And you really think curing him is going to make a difference?" Oliver asked.

"It did for me." Slade said. "Your boy here only had it in him for a few months. Were there still days when you felt that rage come out, almost out of habit?"

"It was like a reflex." Roy admitted. "It didn't have any of the power behind it but it still made me irritable."

"If that's what it was like for him with it for only months, imagine what it was like for me." Slade countered. "When I came back to Starling City after you beat me, there was a large part of me that fought for control. I should have stayed put, it said. I should have stayed in the cell for the rest of my days as penance for the pain and devastation that I had caused. Over time, that part of me has been able to take more and more control. Now, I look back and it was like I spent six years trapped inside myself. If you really think you can cure him, do it. But if that serum has bonded with him, then put him down and grant him peace."

This small speech from Slade stopped Oliver in his tracks. In the past few weeks, Slade had been the only honorary member of this team to keep his distance. He rarely spent any time with the rest of the group, per Felicity's request. He knew that she was still apprehensive about working with him in the first place but she also understood that they needed all the help they could get.

Either way, Oliver looked at saw a strange sight. He saw his old friend wearing the armor of one of his greatest enemies. Slade and Oliver would probably never be great friends again. Too much had happened between the island and the siege. But, Oliver felt content that they were no longer enemies and since Oliver had enough of those already, he was content for that to be the case.

He had enough to fight without adding Slade Wilson into the mix.

"So, I guess the question is: can we actually cure Tommy?" Oliver asked before turning. "Felicity?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Felicity admitted with a shrug. "If we're right and he was basically resurrected with this stuff, then anything is on the table. We may be able t cure him, we may not. For all we know, curing him might kill him."

"We don't have a choice." Thea said softly, breaking her silence. "We have to try."

"We do." Oliver said with a small grin. "Let's get to work."

* * *

Two hours and several blood tests later, the work was done. Now, they were just waiting for the results.

"Felicity?"

"The tests are largely inconclusive." Felicity started. "I've got samples of Slade's blood during his days as a homicidal madman and his days after. I have samples of Roy's Mirakuru blood and both before and after."

"Before? How did you have that?"

"Anytime I get someone's blood other than my own on any of our equipment, Felicity scans it." Oliver said. "I think it's her way of acknowledging that not all of the blood on there is mine."

"Yes, well stop bleeding so much and I won't worry." Felicity countered before going back to her results. "We do have some of Tommy's blood from before and we got some from new Tommy after..."

"After what?" Laurel asked.

"Sara managed to clip his arm with one of his own arrows. During the fight, she pulled it out of his quiver and cut his arm. We recovered the arrow and kept the blood on file."

"It's amazing." Thea said softly. "Sara manages to keep helping us even after she's died."

"It's what she was always good at doing. Helping, I mean." Felicity said before turning back to the results. "Anyway, if you look at Roy and Slade's blood, it appears that there are two versions of their DNA within their cells. One is the normal version of them and another is hulked out version that fills in several of the holes in the original set. This gives you the increased stamina, strength and so on. However, it also creates some serious problems by filling in other sequences that lead to rage and insanity. Either way, the important part is that these are two  _separate_ strains working together."

"And Tommy?" Oliver asked.

"Not the same." Felicity said sadly. "The Mirakuru has literally filled in the gaps in his old DNA. It didn't significantly bump his physical characteristics since he was dead but it definitely gave him the same rage."

This was obviously the worst news they could have received. Oliver's next question was the one that he had never wanted to ask. Thankfully, Slade asked it for him.

"Can you separate the two strains?"

"Theoretically, yes." Felicity said, her eyes locking with Oliver. "But the version of the cure that we have isn't even close to strong enough. We would need to talk to Caitlin Snow again and have her supercharge this version. Even then, it may not cure him or it may kill him. There's no way to be certain."

"Get in contact with Caitlin and have her start working. I need that hypercure in 24 hours."

Oliver was just about to get started on something else when Diggle called out for him.

"Oliver, you're going to want to see this." he said as he watched the TV in the news area.

Quickly, Oliver raced over to the news area and began watching the TV mounted on the wall. It was another message from Ra's al Ghul in town hall.

_"You have disappointed me, Starling City. All you had to do was be patient and this city would have been fixed for you. We would have given you the world's first utopia. Instead, you resist. We all know who that resistance is led by: **The Green Arrow** and his team of "heroes." Well, my patience for The Hood and his team has been tested long enough. When I talked to The Green Arrow, I told him that League of Assassins is not about mass murder, not like Malcolm Merlyn. However, there are times when exceptions must be made."_

_"This is one of those times. Know that whatever happens in the future, all of the blame can be placed on the shoulders of The Vigilante. Now, it is time for you to see what your resistance has caused."_

Suddenly, the camera shifted to one of the several cameras attached to Queen Tower that overlooked the city. Usually, the news used them for traffic updates. Oliver was certain that Ra's al Ghul had other plans.

The image remained as the voice of Ra's returned.

_"Earlier this evening, agents of mine removed The Merlyn Building from existence. However, I learned that it was The Arrow who planned on doing it first. Apparently, his plan was to kill hundreds of my Assassins. They would be removed from the situation and the odds would be better for retaking the city. Well, to our friend, I say that I can play your game. It was undoubtedly take me longer but we have to start somewhere."_

Suddenly, a giant blast flashed in front of the screen. When the camera corrected, Oliver nearly threw up with what he saw.

An entire city block reduced to ashes. Ra's had obviously been busy. He'd also been playing this kind of game for much longer than Oliver had.

_"Starling City, know that The Green Arrow is responsible for any deaths caused this evening. You have been warned."_

With those words, the feed went dead. For several minutes, no one moved or spoke. It was complete silence. An entire city block, just gone in the blink of an eye. Oliver realized that Ra's was right. This was his fault.

But not in the way that Ra's meant. Oliver hadn't been forward enough. He'd spent too much time hiding in his bunker and planning.

No more.

"Felicity, get Caitlin. I need that hypercure in 12 hours." Oliver ordered. "Diggle and Roy, take inventory of everything we have here. Thea and Laurel, you are to go to Captain Lance and stay with him. Once we've gotten everything planned, we'll need to be able to communicated with him."

"Oliver, what are you doing?" Felicity asked in fear.

It was in this moment that Oliver realized that he was shaking. Shaking with a rage he had never felt before. It wasn't like the Undertaking where lives had been lost in the attack or even Slade's siege where he had put the city on the line for a personal battle.

These people were killed as a display of force. They were just means to Ra's' end. Because of that, this wasn't a rage that Oliver could just wish away nor would he want to. It would be a rage that would fuel him until the end, whatever that end may be.

"We're done hiding, Felicity. We're dong planning. We're going after Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins."

"When?" Roy asked with anticipation.

"Tonight."


	16. XV: Oliver Queen

"Check in." Oliver muttered shortly into his comm.

"Hood in position."

"Arsenal ready."

"Deathstroke here."

"Red Arrow checking in."

"Black Canary in position."

"DC-52, reporting." Detective Lance muttered.

Then, silence.

"Oracle?"

"I am not Oracle." Felicity barked into his ear.

"So what are we calling you, princess?" Slade growled.

"My new callsign is Sentry."

"Sentry?" Oliver questioned.

"A sentry is someone who keeps watch. Someone like me." Felicity reasoned.

"Good enough for me." Oliver mused before returning to work. "Now, remember the plan. Sentry and Arsenal, your job is to protect home base. If it looks like it is going to be overrun, you get out using the alternate exit and then blow it. Deathstroke and Hood, you're with me. We're taking the streets with Lance and his men. Red Arrow and Black Canary, hit the rooftops. I need physical eyes-on as much as possible. Canary, you're keeping an eye out for any big players but you just spot them. Do not engage alone. Understood?"

"I heard you the first three times you told me." Laurel replied snidely.

"Wanted to make sure we were on the same page." Oliver answered softly. "Listen, before we do this, I just..."

"Everything is going to be fine, Oliver." Felicity said reassuringly.

"We don't know that." Oliver said. "We've got to do that. We all know that but there's no guarantee that any of us are getting out alive."

"Kid, we'll do what we can. Save the sappy stories for when you're bleeding out."

"Got it." Oliver said before slipping his mask over his eyes.

The plan for the evening was simple: draw Ra's al Ghul out of City Hall and put him down. Oliver still had reservations about murder, specifically him doing it, but he knew that in this case, there was no other option. Ra's al Ghul had been secretly terrorizing the world for decades, if not centuries. If he wasn't stopped today, then there would be no justice for those he had already harmed and those that he would harm in the years to come.

Oliver knew that no prison on Earth would hold him forever. Even ARGUS deepest, darkest cell would only be able to hold him until he ordered his own release. Then, his Assassins would get him out and that would be the end of it, much like they did by ensuring Slade's release from Lian Yu.

In the end, there was no other option.

Ra's al Ghul had to die.

So, Oliver stood just outside the SCPD main headquarters with Slade and Diggle just behind him, waiting for Detective Lance to come out. Pike had turned over the operation for the evening to Lance for a couple reasons. First, Pike still didn't entirely trust The Green Arrow and second, Lance was the most trusted officer on the force. It was the very reason that Oliver was as positive a presence as he was within Starling City.

Ironic when you consider that Detective Lance was the first one on the job to hunt him down. Over the years, that unit had been shut down although Oliver always realized that it was technically still there if they ever needed to hunt him down.

Suddenly, Quentin came bursting out of the side door. It was rare for the popular cop to not be dressed in a suit, even during the most recent crisis. So it was a bit alarming to see Lance come out of the station wearing full SWAT gear.

"We're all ready to go in there whenever you're ready." Lance informed them.

"We're all clear." Oliver said, his voice distorter activated for security purposes.

"How exactly are we doing this?" Lance asked. "I mean it's not like we can just march down the street and attack. A, we've already done that and B, he'll see right through it."

"Your men are going to be stationed at these locations." Oliver replied, pointing out a few places around City Hall where he wanted teams located. "Don't worry about The League. They're going to know that you are there but more than likely, it will be too late until they realize that we're surrounding them."

"Is it going to be enough?" Lance asked desperately.

Oliver knew exactly what was going through the man's head. He knew that if the answer was what he expected, he was knowingly leading some or all of his men to their deaths. If he was anything like Oliver, and he was, it was something that would be very difficult for him to accept.

"No." Oliver said shortly. "This isn't a fight that we can win, Detective. This is another fight as bait, as a distraction. Our goal is drag Ra's al Ghul out into the open so that we can kill him. I firmly believe that if we do that, enough of the League will lose its resolve and we'll be able to take back our city."

"Ok." Lance said sadly.

Oliver put a hand on the man's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "This isn't going to be easy on anyone. There are going to be losses but without sacrifice, we have no chance of restoring order to our city."

"I know." Lance answered, nodding his head. "Doesn't make it any easier."

"Hell no it doesn't." Oliver said shortly before turning back to his companions. "You guys ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Diggle said while removing his two Glocks from their holsters. At the same time, Slade nodded and withdrew his sword.

It was time.

"Let's move." Oliver said as turned back to Lance. "I need your men in position in four minutes."

"You'll have them in three." Lance shot back before turning back and marching to the door. As he reached the door, he yanked it open and simply yelled. "THIS IS IT!" Instantly, Oliver could hear the action from inside the building. Within seconds, the SCPD flooded out the doors and into the small alley. After only a few moments of Lance barking out orders, sixteen different units broke apart and made their way. For this particular mission, each time leader had been fitted with a GPS tracer that would allow Felicity to tell Oliver when everyone was in position.

The three heroes stood in silence for two minutes and fifty-seven seconds before Felicity spoke up.

"All units in position." she said softly, apprehension now apparent in her voice.

'Now or never, Queen.' Oliver thought to himself before turning to the other two: "Let's move."

Almost instantaneously, the three men broke into a full sprint, quickly eclipsing rows of parked cars and abandoned streets until they reached corner of O'Neill and Adams, the intersection closest to City Hall. There, they met Lance and one of the teams. Oliver could tell that some of the officers were uncomfortably by his presence. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't choose to be picky right now. The SCPD needed all the help they could get and so did Oliver.

"All teams check in." Lance whispered over his radio. In short order, each team replied back a go signal. With that, Lance turned to Oliver. "It's your show."

"Sentry, hack me into the police radio lines." Oliver said shortly. Moments later, Oliver heard a double-beep into his ear, a confirmation that Felicity had succeeded. "All teams, this is The Green Arrow. Here is the plan: we need to draw Ra's al Ghul outside and bring him down. If we're going to be able to do that, we'll need to pose a significant threat to his army. On my command, each team's marksman will open fire as the rest of the team holds. All targets will be lookouts on the City Hall building. Do not pick the person directly in front of you. We want to try and confuse them as much as we can."

Taking a deep breath, Oliver continued, knowing that the next part of the plan was the part where most of the casualties on his end would take place.

"Once we have taken out most of the lookouts, we'll give the all forward. The rest of the League will begin flooding out of the building. Your goal is simple: kill as many as you can. Don't bother going for wounding shots. If you wound them, they will kill you."

Secretly, Oliver knew that this may not draw Ra's out. However, it would give him a proper distraction this time. That was because this time, there was no hope of a retreat and no pulling back.

This was the end, one way or another.

"Thank you for your bravery. This city already owes you so much." Oliver said suddenly. "You could have chosen to stay home and not resist. Instead, you realized that it was your duty to save it from Ra's al Ghul. Now, let's do that."

Having said his piece, Oliver turned to Lance and nodded slowly.

"Marksmen, you are go." Lance whispered.

Instantly, the sound of 20 high powered rifles cracked in the distance. It was like being in the middle of a thunderstorm but there was no relief. Instead, it was a constant barrage of cracks and flashes. In only a matter of seconds, Oliver felt that he was having trouble seeing and hearing. It wasn't that tight an area but it was tight enough and there were enough snipers to make a significant impact.

In no time, members of The League began flooding out of City Hall. With a sad grin, Oliver turned back to Slade and Diggle.

"This is where we come in." he said as he turned to Lance. "Give the order. We're all in."

"All units forward." Lance ordered as he stood from his crouched position.

Moving as fluidly as possible, Oliver drew his bow and went to work. The scene was complete chaos. City Hall was located within a small square in the heart of Starling City. When Oliver had placed the teams, he had surrounded the building, seeking to create the illusion that they were bigger than they were. As they charged, they moved to encompass the building. However, the tide of Assassins racing from inside City Hall was now just creating a mess of bodies, both living and dead, in the square around City Hall.

As Oliver moved forward, he quickly lost count of the number of Assassins he had taken down. In preparation for this particular mission, Oliver had created a new toy for his arsenal (for lack of a better term): a quick loading, triple-size quiver. Now, the next arrow was shot up so that half of it was sticking out of the quiver. However, it couldn't be removed unless you had a special magnetic band that Oliver wore around his wrist. When Oliver reached back for the arrow, the arrow would read the band and release the arrow. Without it, it was magnetically held in place.

This quiver was also massive by Oliver's standards. Normally, Oliver carried 24 arrows with him. Tonight, he had eighty and a laundry list of dead Assassins from which he would requisition other arrows.

A single Assassin charged Oliver. His mistake. A single swing over the head that Oliver ducked under was followed by an attempt to kick him. Oliver quickly grabbed the Assassin's leg and twisted, breaking it in one motion before spinning the Assassin in place. As he rotated, Oliver snagged the Assassin's own sword. The Assassin finished his rotation just back in time to face Oliver and with one swing of the blade, Oliver cleaved the man's head off clean.

Reaching down, Oliver grabbed the sheath off of the dead man's body before adding it to his own gear. For the next ten minutes, the pandemonium continued with police and Assassins dying in massive numbers.

Suddenly, his radio went off.

"Black Canary to Green Arrow, I have eyes on Merlyn."

"Where are you?" Oliver barked into his headset as he buried a single arrow into the head of two Assassins.

"Roof of Queen Tower."

"Where is he?"

Nothing.

"Canary, where is he!?" Oliver shouted.

"Also the roof of Queen Tower."

In seconds, Oliver was moving out of the battle, killing indiscriminately as he did. Once he was away from City Hall, Oliver found his bike and open his mic to Laurel.

"Laurel, you still there?"

"I am." Laurel replied nervously.

"As am I."

That voice was the voice of none other than Tommy Merlyn. Instantly, a blaze of rage burned inside Oliver. His bike which had already been pushed towards the edge of its limits was launched forward even faster. After all they had been through, he was not going to lose Laurel.

Especially not to the man in Tommy's reanimated corpse.

"Tommy, you leave her be. Your fight is with me."

"You're right, it is." Tommy said. "Unfortunately, based on Ms. Lance's attire, she's with you. So, I think my fight is with her as well."

Suddenly, Oliver heard Laurel shout as if she had just been punched in the stomach. However, the next thing that followed it up made Oliver grin. That's because the next sound was an almost identical sound coming from the mouth of Tommy Merlyn.

Apparently, she had been trained well enough to get him back.

"Laurel, you are going to regret that." Tommy said, his normal manic joy lost in the sound of a dangerous rage. Instantly, Oliver could hear Tommy launch himself at her. For the next several minutes, Oliver was forced to listen as he picked her apart. Occasionally it sounded like she made contact but overall, based on sound alone, Tommy was winning.

Easily.

Finally, Oliver reached the base of Queen Tower. The madness over at City Hall hadn't quite spread this far yet but the screams and gun shots could definitely be heard. Racing up the front steps, Oliver shot the glass in the front door in, not wanting to waste time with a key. At a full sprint, Oliver raced across the lobby before reaching his personal elevator, pressing the button for the roof. Unfortunately, there would be no quicker way.

Just as Oliver reached the elevator, Roy's voice barked into his ear.

"Oliver, they're here."

God no. Not there.

"Get her out."

"He's overreacting." Felicity snapped. "They're just upstairs. They're not actually in yet."

"I don't care if you have to physically pick her up, Harper. You get her out of there."

"Oliver!"

"THIS IS NOT A NEGOTIATION, FELICITY!" Oliver shouted. "Get in the van. Roy can drive and you can maintain remote operation of the team from there. For the rest of tonight, the two of you are a moving target."

"Fine." Felicity muttered.

"I love you, Felicity." Oliver said softly.

"I love you too." was the reply he never thought he would hear and yet, there it was. It was the last thing he heard before the elevator beeped, signifying that Oliver had reached his destination. Bow in hand, Oliver fired out of the door as it open. Up one small set of stairs, Oliver kicked the door to the roof open.

The sight he found before him was depressing. Laurel lay in front of Tommy with an arrow in her leg and an arrow in her right shoulder. Thankfully, she was still awake and very much alive as she was giving Tommy a kind of violent tongue lashing that he had never heard from the lawyer before. Fortunately for Tommy, Oliver's appearance distracted her and she stopped her tirade.

"Oliver." Laurel whispered, a smile on her face.

"Yes, Oliver, please join us." Tommy said with a mad grin. "It's always been the three of us anyway, hasn't it? First it was Ollie and Laurel, then Tommy and Laurel and then Ollie and Laurel again."

"Tommy..." Laurel pleaded.

"And then I saved Laurel and my best friend let me die." Tommy growled sadly. "It all sounds kind of fucked up, doesn't it?"

"You know that's not how it happened, Tommy." Oliver replied before changing the subject. "Do you even know how they brought you back? Do you know how they brought you back from the dead?"

"Why does this matter?" Tommy said dismissively. "What does this have to do with tonight?"

"Everything." Oliver said as he removed his hood and mask. "Listen, you were brought back to life with a chemical known as Mirakuru. Have you heard of it?"

"Briefly."

"Good. You know that it gives you super stamina and strength. You also know that it drives the user mad."

"Supposedly." Tommy countered. "Ra's al Ghul has been using the Mirakuru for centuries."

"That's because Ra's al Ghul isn't using Mirakuru or at least not the manufactured version. No, what he's been using he's been keeping for himself. We think that he's been using a natural version of it. Instead of super strength, it causes increased length of life with a more mild version of the insanity that you're dealing with."

"I'm not insane!" Tommy shouted.

"You're not?" Oliver shot back. "All of this devastation was caused by your plans. The Tommy that I know wouldn't have wanted this for his home."

"The Tommy you knew is dead."

"Exactly. They brought you back using the Mirakuru. Now, because you were dead, it didn't give you all of the super strength, although I do think it gave you a better aptitude for the kind of work you do now. But, it still came with the madness."

Suddenly, Tommy had his bow in hand and drawn, aiming right down the line at Oliver's forehead.

"I don't think you understand, Queen. I'm not insane. I just realize the way the world is now."

"Really? Then why do you keep telling me that I let you die at CNRI?"

"Because you did!" Tommy shouted, his eyes burning with rage. "You let me lay there and bleed out."

"I did everything I could to get you out of there!" Oliver screamed back. "It was you who told me to stop. It was you who told me that I wasn't a murdering psychopath and that I was a hero. You said those things, Tommy. But you don't remember them like that anymore because the Mirakuru has warped you.

"You're lying." Tommy muttered.

Whatever Tommy's words were, Oliver could see that he had gotten to him. He had gotten him to doubt. If he could do that, maybe, just maybe, he could bring him back off the edge. If he couldn't, then he would have to let his friend die again.

And this time it would be at his own hand.

"This is the only way to find out." Oliver said as he withdrew a syringe from one of his concealed pockets. "This is the cure, Tommy. A super concentrated version of the one we used last year because of the nature of the bonding that your DNA has done with the Mirakuru. Now, say I'm wrong. If you take this, it's simply going to remove something from your system that isn't supposed to be there in the first place."

"But if he's right," Laurel suddenly chimed in, her timing perfect. "then maybe the old Tommy isn't as dead as you thought."

Oliver slowly moved until he stood directly behind Laurel, seeking to protect her if Tommy tried something. But Tommy wasn't focused on them. His bow still drawn, Oliver could see the conflict on his face. He had lived with this rage for years now. Oliver couldn't imagine the questions going through his head right now as he fought to make a decision.

Suddenly, Tommy lowered his bow and chuckled.

"I've spent the last six years of my life, murdering for the League of Assassins. If you're right and the old Tommy is still in here," he said, pointing to his head. "how does he cope with all the terrible things I've done?"

"By understanding that it wasn't you." Oliver answered. "You were under the influence of the Mirakuru. You couldn't have helped yourself."

For a couple seconds, Tommy pondered this response. Finally, he looked back up at Oliver and in that moment, Oliver knew there would be no happy ending.

"Honestly, I don't care. The League gave me my life, it gave me strength. All you ever gave me was an inferiority complex and several good hangovers."

"Tommy..."

"I've made my choice." Tommy said, raising his bow again. "I'm a member of the League of Assassins and the people of this citydeserve their punishment."

"I'm sorry, Tommy." Oliver said as he raised his bow to match Tommy's.

"Me too. As much as I hate you, I never wanted to be the one to put you down."

In a flash, Oliver dropped to his knees, releasing his arrow as he did. The sudden movement surprised Tommy and he wasn't able to get out of the way. This cause the arrow to lodge firmly in his left thigh, forcing Tommy to scream with some sad combination of pain and rage. Fighting through his pain, Tommy launched himself at Oliver. Rolling to the side, Oliver grabbed another arrow, rolled back to his feet and fired.

Unfortunately, this one missed as Tommy shifted to side, letting the arrow pass just inches from his face. Stepping forward, Oliver ducked under a giant swing of Tommy's bow and landed a massive right uppercut to Tommy's stomach. Another quick move landed a left uppercut on Tommy's jaw, which Oliver could feel crack under the massive trauma it had just sustained.

Collapsing backwards, Tommy hit the roof floor hard before turning and spitting out a giant puddle of blood onto the concrete next to him.

"You're distracted." Oliver said softly. "You can't help but think that I might be right."

"You're right." Tommy agreed, mumbling through a cracked or broken jaw. "But I just can't know one way or another. This is what I choose."

"Ok." Oliver replied. "If I leave you up here, you're just going to keep doing this. You'll keep coming back to Starling and keep terrorizing us."

Tommy nodded. "It's what this city deserves."

At this point, Oliver knew in his head what needed to be done. He needed to look beyond the face, that face that held so many happy memories, and look at the heart of this man. The heart that had changed so much over the years from the man he used to know.

Slowly, Oliver lifted his bow, drawing an arrow back. But the longer he looked at the man, the less likely it became that he was going to do it. He had the cure in his pocket. Why not give it to him? But it all came back to what Tommy had said: if Oliver was right and the old Tommy came back, he would never be able to forgive himself for the atrocities that he had committed, even if he had been under the influence of the Mirakuru.

Suddenly, Oliver felt a hand on his arm. Turning, he saw Laurel, tears in her eyes and a very pronounced limp due to the arrow stick out of her leg, staring at him. With as slow a motion as she could, she took the bow out of Oliver's hands.

Turning to Tommy, she spoke.

"Oliver can't kill you, Tommy." Laurel said simply. "He can't kill you because he knows that he could cure you and bring you back to us the way you should be. But all three of us know that you would live a miserable existence, knowing the terrors you inflicted. However, he saw your change before The Undertaking and knew why. He knew that you were jealous of him for becoming everything that you wanted to be but couldn't figure out how to do. I didn't get to see that. All I see before me is some impostor wearing the skin of an old friend."

"Keep the lectures and reasoning to yourself, Lance." Tommy snapped. "You want to kill me then kill me but I'm not-"

Whatever he was or wasn't, they would never know because in that moment, Laurel made her choice, drawing and firing Oliver's bow directly into Tommy's head. The force of the arrow snapped his head back and cracked it against the concrete of the rooftop, causing the blood from the impact to splatter over the area around his head.

It was a sad and unceremonious end for their former friend but it was an end nonetheless.

"Why did you decide to kill him?" Oliver asked softly.

"Tommy never came back. I didn't want whatever that was to poison the memory I had of him."

"I think it was a good choice." Oliver said as he placed an arm under Laurel's legs, lifting her off the ground. "Arsenal, Sentry, come in."

"Sentry, here."

"Get to Queen Tower. I need you to pick up Black Canary."

"Is she alright?" Roy asked.

"I'll be fine." Laurel said. "Just took a couple arrows."

"How's he?" Felicity asked cryptically.

"He's better now." Oliver said softly.

Twenty minutes later, with a mostly bandaged Laurel in tow, Oliver sat in the back of their armored van as Roy drove them closer to City Hall. As they did, the sounds of gunfire and explosions rocked them more and more. As he heard these explosions, his eyes focused on Felicity. In the past, she had been jumpy and terrified being this close to the action. Now, she worked quickly on her tablet while coordinating some of the action with Lance.

Secretly, it hurt Oliver to see her become this battle-hardened. She had always been the one who had stayed away from the action, the one who was able to leave the darkness at the Foundry and go on with her life. It had taken Oliver this long to realize that he had been wrong. No one got to leave the darkness, not once they entered it as fully as they did on a nightly basis.

Instead, you simply had levels of masking it. Felicity's mask was the best of them all because it was so unassuming and innocent. But inside, Oliver saw the warrior's heart that she hid to protect herself from the horrors of the world they worked in. Oliver had only seen the mask slip once and she had left for two years when it had happened.

"I'm picking up strange signals on the edge of town." Felicity said with confusion in the front seat.

"Waller." Oliver replied simply. "She's watching us from the edge of town like last time."

"No, the signal isn't the same. I would have recognized it if it was Waller. I've hacked her signal more times than I could count."

"Not something I would say out loud." Roy mumbled as he drove through the crowded streets.

Suddenly, Detective Lance's voice came over the radio.

"If you're on your way, you may want to make it double time."

"What's going on?" Oliver said, re-engaging his voice distorter for those around Lance.

"The League has started pulling people into the streets. They're just breaking into homes and throwing people into the chaos. Plus, we haven't seen Ra's at all."

"Move it, Arsenal." Oliver commanded firmly which was followed by a growl of the engine and a lurch as the van launched forward at even faster speeds.

As Roy dodged the people and abandoned cars in the street, Oliver thought about how familiar this all seemed at this point. In a five year span, this city had been hit by a man-made earthquake, a siege and a battle waged between the police and assassins at City Hall. Internally, Oliver pledged that his city would never go through this kind of crisis again.

After minutes of fighting their way through the streets, Roy came to a screeching halt.

"We're here." he said as Oliver forced the back door open.

"Once I'm out, you get moving and you do not stop for anything." Oliver ordered.

"Got it." Roy said shortly with a nod. Having seen his confirmation, Oliver turned to Felicity. For a second, Oliver had to fight the thought of simply running away with her. But if they enjoyed the idyllic life that Oliver was imaging, he knew that he could never leave his city.

"Stay safe." Oliver said as he placed as hand on her cheek.

"As safe as we can." Felicity said with a nod, her eyes not leaving his. "Now get moving."

"Yes, ma'am." Oliver said with a grin before racing out of the back of the van. Without looking back, Oliver heard the tires of the van squeal, signalling their rapid departure. As they raced off, Oliver heard Felicity speak into his comm again.

"I really am worried about that strange signal." Felicity said again. "It's not something that I recognize."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that."

That voice? It couldn't be...

"Barry?" Oliver asked in confusion.

"In the flesh!" Barry said with excitement. "Also, I'm not alone."

"Queen."

"Wayne." Oliver said shortly. "I'm assuming Kent is here as well."

"I am." Clark confirmed shortly. "Once we got word that you had launched your attack, Barry and I got here as fast we could and Wayne got into his plane and made his way here."

"I could have sworn I told you that I didn't want you here." Oliver growled.

"Yes, but technically we're not here." Barry shot back. "Wayne has shut down all satellite imaging in the area and we're turning away all flights that could give anyone a bird's eye view of the city."

"Where are you guys exactly?"

"Look up."

Following Wayne's command, Oliver lifted his eyes to the sky. Sure enough, Oliver could see a small jet circling the city high in the sky. On a slightly lower level, Oliver could just barely make out what appeared to be a man flying circles around Starling.

"We can't directly interfere because of Ra's threat on the rest of our cities. However, if we maintain our distance, we'll be able to prevent him from bringing in an reinforcements and give you a bird's eye view on the city."

"Sounds good to me." Oliver said shortly before turning back towards City Hall. "How are things looking, Superman?"

"Not good." Kent admitted. "The police force has been able to hold out pretty well but sooner or later, the League's training is going to turn the tide. You can't hit what you can't see."

"Not always true." Oliver muttered as he raced towards the commotion in the center of town. As he did, he passed Slade and Diggle fighting back to back, laying waste to dozens of Assassins with bullets, thrown knives and the occasional sword strike to the head. Continuing to run, Oliver saw a number of arrows raining down from the sky. Turning slightly, Oliver was able to spot Thea, sniping Assassins from the roof of a fourteen story building.

That sight made Oliver smile proudly. Knowing that Laurel, Roy and Felicity were busy driving around Starling, Oliver looked for the last unofficial member of his team. Unfortunately, the overwhelming number of men running around in SWAT team gear made it impossible to locate him.

"DC-52, check in." Oliver said into his radio as he ducked under one arrow before rolling to his feet and firing an arrow at his attacker, striking them dead center in the chest.

Nothing came from the radio.

"DC-52, Lance, where are you?"

Again, nothing.

"Where was the last time someone spotted Lance?" Oliver screamed into his radio, this time patching into the police radio as well.

"Lance led a small team into City Hall." an anonymous voice shouted back over the radio.

Into City Hall? What was the man thinking? Instantly, Oliver took off at a sprint, firing arrows at a pace that you wouldn't believe, even if you had seen it. After a succession of nearly thirty arrow strikes and two beheadings with the sword that Oliver had stolen, he was kicking in the door to City Hall.

"LANCE!" Oliver screamed as he entered the structure. It was eerily quiet inside the building for all of the fighting that was happening just on the other side of all of the building's walls. Quickly, Oliver took off at a sprint, searching for the missing detective. For nearly twenty minutes, Oliver scoured the building and came across not a single person.

Then, as if hit by the realization with a small semi-truck, Oliver froze in place. That voice, it had seemed familiar.

Familiar because it was the voice of Ra's al Ghul. Oliver hadn't waited for anyone else to confirm the information. Instead, he'd acted on instinct, racing into the building without a single thought.

"All team, check-in."

"Red Arrow."

"Deathstroke." Slade grunted after what was assuredly a great kill.

"Hood."

"Arsenal." Roy said after a pause.

"Black Canary." Laurel said weakly.

Nothing. Oliver's heart stopped. Where was Felicity? If Roy and Laurel were there, where was Felicity?

"Sentry." Felicity said after a beat.

"Thank God." Oliver said aloud. "Where were you?"

Felicity's response was unexpected. Instead of saying something, she responded with three taps in succession. In the code that Oliver had created for his team to use, three taps that quickly meant only one thing.

"Felicity, where are you?"

One tap, a pause, and then three more taps. She couldn't say and she was in trouble. How had she answered then? Then, Oliver realized that if she was in trouble, it was likely that whoever was causing that trouble wouldn't have wanted to worry Oliver so they had them answer.

"Have you seen Lance?"

Two taps with a single tap. She had seen him but couldn't say where.

"DC-52, come in." Oliver said in frustration. "Lance, tell me where you are!"

"That's going to be challenging."

No. Of all people, no. Suddenly, Oliver closed his radio channel, locked everyone but him and Lance out.

"Nyssa, you let me be."

"It's too late for that Queen. You're going to want to hurry. He may not last long."

"Where. Is. He?"

"The steps of SCPD Headquarters. A fitting place for the man to die."

Again without thinking, Oliver moved, pushing the doors in front of him open and sprinting across the lawn. As Oliver ran his legs, tired from the constant fighting of the evening, burned under the stress and yet Oliver pushed himself forward. Even as he ran, he knew this could be a stunt, something to simply tire Oliver out before Ra's swooped in to finish him off.

However, Oliver had figured out how Ra's worked and something like that wouldn't be respectful. Ra's rarely had a quality opponent and while he may affect his opponent's mind, he wasn't about to screw with him physically. The opposite, in fact. Ra's would want Oliver at his best so that when Ra's killed him, Oliver would know that despite his best efforts, he had failed the city.

As Oliver rounded the corner to SCPD, Oliver saw the form of a fallen Detective Lance laying on the steps there. Dialing his speed up another notch, Oliver raced to the man's side. The moment Oliver kneeled down next to him, he was forcibly taken back to the death of Sara.

There was more than just the family name to cause that. All of Quentin's injuries were caused by arrows and all were strategically placed. One to the right shoulder, one to the stomach and one to the right pectoral: all the same locations that Sara had been hit.

Tears forming in his eyes, Oliver did his best to lay the man flat but just like with his youngest daughter, Oliver knew a lost cause when he saw one.

"Laurel." he muttered softly.

"She's fine." Oliver whispered, his voice normal.

"Good." Lance replied with a rasp. "Put her on the radio."

"OK." Oliver said as he grabbed his wrist computer, linking Laurel into their radio. "Black Canary."

"OLIVER! Your-"

"Whatever you're going to say can wait a few minutes." Oliver said somberly.

"What's wrong?" Laurel asked desperately.

"My baby." Quentin said shortly. "I'm so proud of you.

"No...oh god, not him. Oliver, how bad is it?"

"It was Nyssa. She got him in the same places that Tommy hit Sara. I think this was her revenge for taking Sara."

"Can you save him?"

"I"m sorry, Laurel." Oliver said, tears streaming down his face. "There's too much blood. He'd bleed out before we could get him anywhere."

"You listen to me, Laurel." Lance barked, suddenly strong for his daughter. "We knew there were going to be casualties in this war with The League. We knew cops were going to die. I-I j-j-just happened-d to bb-be one of those caps."

"Dad, just hang in there." Laurel begged, the tears apparent in her voice. "Oliver can get an ambulance there."

"T-there are no amb-b-bulances to be had, baby." Lance reasoned. "You stay strong."

With that, Lance shut his radio off. Oliver thought the man was about to go as he lay there on the steps of the building he had spent nearly his entire adult life working in. Suddenly, Lance's eyes trained to Oliver's as the man reached up and grabbed Oliver by the collar bringing him down to Lance's level.

"I was so wrong about you for so long." Quentin moaned softly.

"You couldn't have known." Oliver reasoned. "I was a wildcard with a hood and bow and arrow."

"Not about The Green Arrow. About you."

"What?"

"When you came back from that island, all I saw was the little girl that had left with you. Even with I realized you were the Arrow, I still judged you as a selfish, impulsive young man, this time with the skills to kill people instead of just drinking them under the table."

"You weren't wrong."

"I was. I was s-s-so wrong." Lance said, his voice starting to lose strength. "Oliver Queen, you are the hero this city has never deserved. This Ra's al Ghul has terrorized my f-f-amily for the better p-part of a d-d-decade. But, he doesn't have what you have. His followers follow him in fear or idolization. You have a family, Oliver, and I was just g-glad that my little girls got to be a part of it. Because they loved you, Oliver, and I love you like the son that I never had."

"Even if you did want to kill me."

This made Lance laugh ever so slightly. "On more than one occasion."

Suddenly, as if he'd finally said what he wanted to say, Lance's breathing became labored. Simple breaths suddenly took large amounts of effort and energy. However, the man held on for just long enough. As he fought to stay present, all black blur suddenly dropped down next to him.

"Dad." Laurel pleaded.

"L-l-laurel?" Lance smiled weakly with surprise.

"I had to make it here."

"Good." Lance said, his eyes closing. "I love you, baby..."

Her timing couldn't have been better with those words, his dying proclamation the love he felt for his remaining daughter, Quentin Lance's will to live finally gave out and Starling City's greatest unmasked hero had passed from this world.

In the back of Oliver's mind, all he could think about was all the time Quentin and Sara would get to spend together in the world beyond. For a second, that thought made Oliver smile.

For several seconds, the pair of them sat in silence as they looked at the corpse of the man who had raised one of them and had practically raised the other. Finally, Laurel turned back to Oliver.

"You need to turn your radio back on."

"Why?"

"You'll see." Laurel replied ominously.

Following her command, Oliver opened his comm to the rest of the team again. As he did, he was greeted with a cacophany of people shouting his name. Quickly, Oliver spoke up to quiet them down.

"What's going on?"

"Where have you been?" Thea barked into the mic.

"Detective Lance is down."

For several seconds, no one spoke, each of them silently honoring Detective Lance in their own way. Finally, Diggle spoke up.

"Slade went down as well."

"What?" Oliver said in shock.

"Took an arrow in the chest and another in the head."

"I find it strange that someone would get the drop on him like that." Oliver said softly.

"They didn't." Diggle replied. "He dove in front of me."

That news was truly shocking. Slade Wilson, the monster that had killed hundreds in the single minded pursuit of revenge against Oliver Queen, had died taking an arrow meant for one of Oliver's closest friends. Again, Oliver offered a silent prayer that Slade would find comfort in the afterlife, joining Shado finally.

"Anything else I should know?"

"That I expect you to surrender."

That voice again belonged to Ra's al Ghul.

"Unlikely, Ra's."

"You notice that Ms. Smoak has not spoken over your intercoms in some time. You notice that Ms. Lance is with you and not with Ms. Smoak or Mr. Harper. You also notice the fact that most of the gunfire has now stopped."

As he said this, Oliver did in fact notice all of these things.

"Once I'm done speaking, Ms. Lance will tell you that a group of Assassins attacked your van. Ms. Lance and Mr. Harper were able to get away. Thankfully, my intended target was not. As we speak, she sits on her knees at my friend, ready to be killed at my command."

"What do you want?" Oliver growled threateningly.

"It's very simple. I have rounded up most of the police force in this city and they are being held by my Assassins. More importantly to you personally, I have Ms. Smoak. You will approach City Hall alone, you will remove your hood and you will bow before me. Then, I will kill you and spare your friends from the fate they deserve. They do your will, so you shall be the one that is punished."

As Oliver marched towards City Hall, alone at his request, all Oliver could think about was the similarities between this and Slade's siege. While Slade's attack had been entirely personal, Ra's was attacking him as the leader of the rebellion to his regime. In both cases, both masterminds found his one and only true weakness.

Felicity Meghan Smoak.

However, Oliver had the memory of Slade's attack in his mind this time. He remembered what he had done and what it had taken to win. This time, Oliver had no intention of surrendering to this madman.

This time, Oliver would strike first.

Finally, Oliver reached the front steps of City Hall. Looking up to the top, Oliver saw Ra's al Ghul surrounded by some of his closest allies with Felicity on her knees in front of them. However, as Oliver looked upon Felicity's frightened face, it was another face behind her that caught his attention.

That face belonged to Isabel Rochev.

"Isabel." Oliver said with a smile. "Or should I say Talia?"

"It only took you three years to figure it out, Queen." Isabel snapped back. "I can't say that I'm impressed."

"Apparently, coming back from the dead is a family trait." Oliver mused. "Is killing the ones you love also a family trait, Nyssa?"

"No, but killing those who turn your back on you is. Ta-er al-Asfer took a vow to our cause and then abandoned it. Then, when she was given the choice between fighting for the League or against it here in Starling, she chose incorrectly. I may have loved Sara but her death is her own doing."

"I see." Oliver said softly before turning back to Ra's. For the first time, Oliver saw Ra's in his Assassin gear in person. He wore black robes much like his Assassins. However, his were ordained with diamonds and crystals around the collars and wrists. Finally, a single silver chain held a gold cloak that hung to the floor. It made for a very imposing figure, almost like a king of sorts.

"Ra's, you say you're a man of honor." Oliver continuing, his tone bordering on accusation.

"I am." Ra's replied simply.

"And you fight for what you believe in?"

"I do."

"These men and women do the same." Oliver said, motioning to police being held hostage around him. "They believe in this city and they don't believe in you. Regardless, let them go. Your quarrel is no longer with them."

"Are you sure, Oliver?" Ra's said mockingly. "If not them, then who else?"

"Me." Oliver said, his eyes narrowing. "I am the physical and spiritual leader of this rebellion. You kill me and they'll bend to your will."

"That is the plan, Mr. Queen."

"I'm well aware. However, I have a proposition for you." Oliver said. "You let all of these people go and I'll tell them not to fight. They'll return to their homes or their station or somewhere that isn't actively fighting you. In return, you get the opportunity to prove that you really are better than me."

"Excuse me?"

"I've called every news camera in town and told them that Ra's al Ghul and The Green Arrow are going to fight for the right to protect or destroy Starling City. If you win, I'll be dead and there will be no one left in this town that can stop you. Starling City will be yours."

"What makes you think that I'll even agree to this charade?"

"Because the cameras are coming one way or another." Oliver returned fire. "If you choose not to fight me, this city will never stop. It will fight you forever and you'll be forced to abandon the city or massacre its entire population. Either way, you fight me or youwill lose Starling City."

Finally, Oliver could see Ra's process this information. Knowing that he couldn't afford to turn this opportunity to put Oliver down once and for all, Ra's nodded slowly. As he did, his Assassins slowly returned to the steps while the police with Oliver's encouraging, left the area entirely. Looking up, Oliver saw that Felicity remained Ra's' hostage.

"Let her go, Ra's." Oliver ordered. "I said they all go and I meant all of them."

"Fine." Ra's said with a grin. "I would have taken her back inside the building to spare her the horror of watching me murder the man she loves but that is your choice."

Suddenly, Ra's lifted his hand and snapped. In a motion, someone stepped forward and cut Felicity's bindings while someone else removed Ra's' robe. As he moved slowly down the steps towards Oliver, he drew his sword, leveling it at Oliver.

"You barely defeated an arrogant Slade Wilson two years ago. How do you think you will be able to defeat me, Mr. Queen?"

"Experience." Oliver said shortly.

"Experience?" Ra's said with a hearty laugh. "I am over four hundred years old! How could you hope to match me in experience?"

"Sometimes, it's the intensity of the experience and the lessons we learned from them that matter more than the raw number of experiences."

"Very wise." Ra's replied as he reached the street level and came ever with Oliver, who drew the sword he had stolen from the Assassin earlier. "Unfortunately, this will be the last day that wisdom graces this Earth."

"We'll see."

During their last fight, Oliver had initiated the first and only contact. But, Oliver had learned from the experience. Instead, he waited. For several seconds, neither of them moved. Finally, Ra's' patience, his best asset, grew thin and he leapt forward, swinging his sword towards Oliver's head. Oliver quickly moved his blade to meet Ra's' before moving immediately to counter.

However, Oliver knew that Ra's would be quick enough to block that and was only waiting for the inevitable counter of his own counter. Sure enough, Ra's blocked Oliver's strike and fired back with a stab to the stomach. A quick parry and Oliver was able to force Ra's' sword away from him.

"Nicely done." Ra's complimented. "So you do learn. Now, let's see how well you do learning on the fly."

Then, before Oliver knew what was happening, Ra's was on him, swinging his blade with such speed and veracity that Oliver struggled to keep up. One counter, another block, a parry and final counter before pushing Ra's back away from him.

That had all happened in less than three seconds and Oliver had barely been fast enough.

"You are a capable fighter." Ra's said softly as he circled Oliver. "You learned quickly and you seem to be adequately skilled. As I said before, you would have been the commander of my armies if you had chosen to join me."

For a second, Oliver contemplated what joining Ra's would mean. It would mean never fearing for his life again. It would mean a secure place for his city with him permanently in charge of it, protecting the city. However, it was also mean killing indiscriminately and a lifetime (or longer) of servitude to Ra's al Ghul.

"I think I'll pass." Oliver said shortly.

"As I expected."

Another quick barrage ended in a stand still. For several seconds, the two circled before launching themselves at each other again. Unfortunately for Oliver, this particular battle did not end in a draw. After Oliver made an attempt at a swing towards Ra's' head, Ra's ducked and sliced Oliver's right side, splitting him openly. Instantly, Oliver could feel the heat of the blood coat the inside of his suit and trickle down the side as he grimaced in pain.

"Too slow, Mr. Queen." Ra's said tauntingly. "You'll have to be much quicker than that."

"I'll do my best." Oliver growled as he launched forward.

The rage that Ra's had caused weakened Oliver mentally more than anything. Swinging wildly, Oliver watched as Ra's dropped to the ground, sweeping his leg under Oliver's. Before Oliver knew what was happening, he had on his back, staring at the night sky. Then, Ra's boot suddenly crashed repeatedly into Oliver's midsection. Almost instantly, Oliver could feel some of his ribs crack and break. His new armor may have been heavier but it wasn't truly designed for this kind of blunt force trauma.

Finally, Ra's let up, walking away calmly. Slowly, Oliver picked himself up off the ground, spitting out blood as he did. As he stood, his vision blurred, a result of the amount of pain he was in. Oliver took a couple of seconds to steady himself with his breath.

"I'm sorry, Oliver, but you simply are not up to this task." Ra's mocked. "I've been training for this fight since your great-great-great grandfather was just a sparkle in his father's eye. Meanwhile, you started your little war just a few years ago."

"I've been fighting this war my whole life." Oliver said weakly. "I just didn't realize it. Every stupid thing that I did before I went to that island was training, it prepared me for the life outside of the Hood. I needed to be convincing, I need to be able to convince everyone that I was the same stupid man that I had been before the Island. I needed the world to believe that I spent five years cowering in fear, praying for escape."

"It's seems that you've done that." Ra's answered. "No one in this city would even imagine that you could possibly be The Green Arrow."

As Ra's spoke, Oliver slowly approached him. "After all that time though, you were learn how to fool those that aren't quite as easy to fool."

"What do you mean?"

The pain wasn't fake. Oliver could feel every bit of the injuries he had sustained. However, the speech, while true, was fake. All it was was a diversionary tactic. Specifically one that was designed to keep Ra's attention focused on his head and not his hand, which had been reaching for the arrow that Oliver had grabbed out of the special bottom compartment of his quiver. This compartment allowed for the user to grab the arrow from the bottom rather than the top.

"I mean that people like Amanda Waller or Bruce Wayne...or you."

"And how did you fool me?"

"Like this." Oliver said with a grin before burying the arrow into Ra's stomach. He withdrew the arrow and went to stab Ra's in the chest but Ra's had caught on. A swing of his sword forced Oliver to roll straight backwards. Once he was upright, his bow was out and draw with the same arrow he had just used. Again grunting in pain, Oliver released the arrow, which buried itself in Ra's right shoulder.

Suddenly, they were back on even footing. Or they would have been if Oliver hadn't had one more trick up his sleeve. On his way to City Hall, Oliver had visited Slade's body to mourn his death. While there, he had taken Slade's sword and attached it to the underside of his quiver. This allowed Oliver to reached to nearly the same spot that he had reached for the arrow, only this time, he was drawing a full length sword.

Now, Oliver stood, broken but not beaten, with two swords to match the one that Ra's, with an arrow still burrowed into his chest, held. Instantly, Oliver launched himself at Ra's, swinging wildly at his head. Ra's ducked and made for the same slice that had worked earlier. Only this time, Oliver blocked it with his second sword before stabbing Ra's in the right bicep.

Ra's roared wildly before pulling back, his arm a mangled mess of blood, muscle and exposed tendons. This time, Oliver had hurt Ra's, probably more than he had been hurt in years, and it caused him to act irrationally. Charging at Oliver, he sliced at Oliver's neck. Quickly, Oliver raised the sword in his left hand, parrying the hard strike before lifting his right arm and striking while Ra's while unbalanced.

This strike hit paydirt. The parry of his strike had thrown Ra's off balance, causing him to be facing away from Oliver. With one quick motion, Oliver stabbed Ra's in the back, impaling him clean through with Slade's sword. Removing the sword, Oliver walked around to Ra's front as he dropped to his knees, wheezing due to the hole that Oliver had just put into his lungs.

As he circle around, Oliver came face-to-face with the terrible Ra's al Ghul. Only he didn't look so terrible anymore.

He looked afraid.

"You were right, Ra's." Oliver admitted. "You would have beaten me if the only matter of a fight was the amount of time you'd been fighting. Thankfully for me, it's not. If I had fought you straight, I would have lost and I couldn't afford that. Not for my city. So, I thought ahead and came up with this. It seems like it was a good idea. What do you think?"

"Go to hell." Ra's spat.

"I may one day." Oliver growled. "But when if I do, it will be with the satisfaction of knowing that you went there first."

"I thought that The Green Arrow didn't kill anymore." Ra's countered.

"I'm not Wayne, Ra's. I don't kill often."

With that, Oliver took his bow from his back, withdrew an arrow from his quiver and lined up the shot. Up until the last moment, Ra's looked down the shaft of the arrow into Oliver's eyes with hatred.

"Do you really think that killing me will solve anything?" Ra's said mockingly. "It's not like I've never died before."

"Well, then I can always make it happen again, can't I?" Oliver said before releasing the arrow. The effect was very satisfying with Ra's' body crumpling on the ground before him, motionless.

Instantly, bodies moved out of the corner of his eye with Nyssa and Isabel drawing their weapons.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Oliver said with a hint of warning in his voice.

"You dare kill the Head of the Demon!" Nyssa shouted. "You dare!"

"I didn't dare." Oliver replied. "I did it and I did it knowing that there have been police snipers trained on you from the very moment I got here. If any of you had attempted to interfere, you would have been killed. As it is, I think it's just about time something was done about the rest of you."

With that, Oliver engaged his wrist computer.

"Waller, come and get them."

Within seconds, an almost uncountable number of helicopters filled to the brim with ARGUS troops came into view over the steps of City Hall. Only moments later, the streets were full of ARGUS troops, each one arresting a different Assassin. Oliver was happy to know that the SuperMax at Lian Yu would be much fuller after the end of today.

However, Oliver didn't get much time to think about that as he was forcibly turned in place before Felicity nearly jumped into his arms. Before Oliver even really knew what was going on, her lips were on his and they weren't going anywhere. However, a couple seconds in, Oliver realized that The Green Arrow was kissing Felicity Smoak in public. With much regret, Oliver broke off the kiss and activated his voice distorter.

"When this is all cleaned up, I will take as much of that as I can get." he said with a smile.

"Deal."

In the week since the end of Ra's al Ghul's reign over Starling City, things had changed immensely. Once the raid on City Hall had ended, both Oliver and Thea had resigned as CEO of Queen Consolidated. While they would retain their majority ownership, they no longer wanted sole control of the day-to-day operations of the business. Rumor had it that a very English friend of the family was the front runner to return to QC.

A memorial service had been held for Quentin Lance, who had been given a post-humus "Key to the City" to go along with the Medal of Valor awarded by the SCPD. He truly was a hero. Also, in honor of his fallen friend, Oliver had added Slade's sword to his gear, allowing him to equip it when called for. It would be a single memory of the friend he had lost while also a constant reminder to be there and honest with those closest to him.

The first and second Arrowcaves had been closed permanently. In fact, no one had seen The Green Arrow since his fight with Ra's al Ghul. Mostly, Oliver was busy with other things at the moment. He was also still healing from the effects of the battle. Eventually, he would return to the hood.

All things in due time.

The first thing was the first "meeting." After their assistance with the raid, Oliver had suggested that the other heroes finally meet. And so it was that Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne ended up in the same hotel room in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Several discussion were had but there was one very important one.

"To be clear, we are not a military organization." Bruce said shortly. "We do not answer to the government."

"But we can't just ignore it." Clark countered. "If we do, then we become a superpower in our own right, which is not the goal."

"Listen, my goal is to help people." Barry said shortly. "I'm not interested in the politics of it. If they made it illegal to wear a mask and fight crime, I would probably keep doing it anyway. All we're going to be doing is helping people but on a much larger scale."

"Maybe a name would help." Clark suggested. "Then, they wouldn't have to refer to us as "that group.""

Suddenly, a thought made Oliver chuckle.

"What is it, Queen?" Wayne grumbled.

"I was just thinking about The League. They had their name, The League of Assassins." Oliver mused. "Well, we're kind of a league too but based on the opposite ideals. They were a league devoted to terror and fear."

"What are we devoted to then?" Barry asked.

"It's simple." Oliver replied. "We fight to keep the peace, we fight for the people that can't fight for themselves. It's about getting justice for the people."

"So we're like a League of Justice?" Barry said, not particularly like how that role of his tongue.

"No, we're The Justice League." Bruce said softly.

Instantly, it was as if a lightbulb went off inside each of their heads.

The Justice League.

The name fit them. It suited the ideals of each of their members. They all had different methods and goals but they all fought for justice. It was the thing that each of them could truly agree on.

"I like it." Clark said. "Speaking of justice, I've heard rumors of this woman working in South America..."

Six weeks after Ra's death, the Arrow family met at Queen Mansion for the first time in a long time but for a great reason: Thea and Roy had decided that they had waited long enough and were getting married. Oliver acted as Roy's best man while Laurel was Thea's maid of honor. Not be left out, Felicity and Diggle were both in the respective wedding parties.

It was a lovely afternoon and evening, if only for the missing parents. So, it was a complete surprise for Thea when Oliver was able to convince Walter to act as her surrogate father for the father-daughter dance. For Roy, Moira, making a rare appearance in her children's lives, acted as Roy's mother and danced with him. It was a very small ceremony and an even smaller after-party, although a huge party was rumored to be taking place at Verdant later in the week.

With their marriage, Roy and Thea had made an announcement: they were moving out of Queen Mansion. With that news, Oliver had decided that he was moving back to the Mansion for one specific purpose.

Oliver intended to remodel the home into a fortress, the permanent home base of The Green Arrow. Almost ten months later, Oliver would complete a renovation on the house that created an entire new sub-level that acted as the new headquarters for Team Arrow.

With all of that covered, there was only one thing to take care of.

About a week after Thea and Roy's wedding, Oliver decided it was time. So, he got into his car and drove into the city, picking up some flowers on the way. Once Oliver reached his location, he mounted the stairs and knocked on the door. After several seconds, the door was open and on the other side of the door stood one very surprised Felicity Smoak.

"Did you really think I had forgotten?" Oliver said, referencing his words to her just after Ra's' death.

"Well, it's been nearly two months." Felicity said with a grin. "The thought had crossed my mind."

"I told you things needed to be settled before we could do anything."

"You've said something similar before, Oliver."

"Fair point." Oliver returned with a grin before grabbing Felicity by the hand as she tried to turn around. The result force whipped her back towards him and she gently fell into his arms. "Would you go on a date with me, Felicity?"

"God, I thought you'd never ask. Normally, when people say that, they mean it sarcastically but I don't." Felicity said as she started to ramble. "I really never thought you would ask me. I mean even though I know you and love you, you're still Oliver Queen, billionaire playboy."

"Felicity."

"Shutting up."

"Good." Oliver said softly before planting a kiss on her forehead. "Be ready at 6:15."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Oliver said with an evil grin.

"Oliver Queen, I hate you so much." Felicity said with a loving punch to the arm.

"What? I also thought dinner and a movie was a very romantic first date. Dark lighting, the opportunity to put the arm rest up and put my arm around you."

"Yeah, I'm not sure how you did that." Felicity said as she rolled her eyes. "I mean, you did take me to see Devil Hunter 3."

"I didn't think it was that scary."

"I hate you." Felicity said as she nuzzled in under his arms. "That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"No chance you'll come and see Devil Hunter 4 with me?"

"There's a better chance of you dating Helena than me seeing that movie."

"Not funny." Oliver said with a smile. "I did that once already."

"And we all see how that turned out."

It really was a perfect night. They'd had a wonderful dinner at a cheap Mexican restaurant and saw a scary movie that Oliver knew Felicity had loved, even if she would never admit it. Oliver couldn't think of anything at could ruin it.

Riiiiiiiiiing.

Except for that particular cell phone going off. Both Oliver and Felicity knew what that ring meant. Looking around, Oliver and Felicity disappeared into an alley just a couple blocks from the movie theater to answer the phone.

The phone on the other end of this line had belonged to Detective Lance so above all, Oliver was curious who was calling him. So, Oliver answered the phone.

"Go." Oliver said, his voice distorted by the phone's tech.

"It's Pike."

"What is it?" Oliver said, relieved that it was someone on their side.

"We've got a location on Daniel Brickman also known as-"

"The Brick." Oliver interrupted. "He's been trying to consolidate power in the crime families for the last year. But he hasn't publicly made any moves in months. Why now?"

"Not sure." Pike replied. "Meet me on the roof of SCPD and we'll go over the rest of it."

"I'll be there in 30." Oliver said as he hung up before turning to Felicity. "We need to go to work."

"Always work with you, isn't it?" Felicity teased.

"I know it kind of ruins the whole "first date" vibe but it could be worse."

"How?"

"Not sure." Oliver admitted. "Nobody tried to blow us up."

"Not yet anyway."

"True." Oliver said with a smile. "Come on, the night's still young. Let's see if we can't get someone to try and blow me up."

"Not funny." Felicity muttered before leaning up to kiss Oliver. "Let's get out of here."

"I have to admit that I imagined you saying that under different circumstances." Oliver said with a grin.

"Cool your jets, Queen."

"I'll do my best."


End file.
